Intended
by SilverLily aka Blood Moon
Summary: As a Hunter, Doumeki Shizuka never expected to become the prey. When a powerful being sets his sights on him, his story becomes a descent into madness...and bliss. Dou/Wata. Yaoi. A/U.  Very Explicit
1. Chapter 1

Humidity made the evening summer air so thick it felt as though it could be parted and moved aside with human hands. Moisture pooled around his neck and dripped down his back and chest as sweat. His whole body felt sticky and confined, even though he was surrounded by nothing but open space. It was on days like this when he rather disliked the leather armor that he wore.

The people of this village were quiet that night. The only ones he could see as he slipped into a back alley were a few studious stall vendors that were still hoping to catch even one more customer before the town's bell sounded the curfew call.

Doumeki Shizuka flexed his gloved hands as he checked his gear again. It was perhaps a nervous habit, but it was one that helped calm his nerves whenever he was about to walk into an uncertain and likely dangerous situation.

This village had been mostly quiet in regards to trouble, but the Hunter's Council had received an anonymous tip about a suspicious individual that went to the market very early in the morning every other day. There had been nothing _outwardly_ wrong with this person, but apparently their aura alone was enough to frighten someone. Someone with connections, and someone that could make the Hunter's Council take notice if they complained enough.

Captain Doumeki of the 4th Division was asked to investigate this tip personally when a scout confirmed the aura of a witch in the market district of South Cross Village three days later. Doumeki thought it was ridiculous that he needed to be the one to go when he had three green recruits himself that needed a job just like this one to really sink their teeth into and gain some experience, but he didn't question the Council – no one did. He'd never even met any of the people on the Hunter's Council, even though the men in his family had been hunters for nearly seven hundred years. No one met the Council unless they were invited to join it.

A small gray cat ran across his path in the alley as he worked his way around the usual debris that littered the streets of poorer villages like this one. From behind him he heard the sound of gravel crunching. When he looked over his shoulder he just caught the sight of a bushy orange tail before it disappeared behind a wood picket fence, the gray cat from before not far behind. There was definitely something strange going on, as the animals were acting oddly. His suspicion was confirmed when a bird cawed loudly above him, unable to stop itself from flapping its wings furiously without ever actually taking off. Doumeki checked his gear once more. He had his bow, his long sword and his daggers, protection bells, spell wards, and keystone powder. His will power was tested and unbending. He was sufficiently well equipped to handle anything a witch might throw out at him.

Even though it was his job to hunt these creatures, it was not a job he particularly relished. He was a hunter as his father had been, and his grandfather before that. Part of him felt it was something that he had to do and could not quit no matter his distaste, but that was perhaps because he was seeking some sort of atonement for his grandfather Haruka. It was a family disgrace that he'd fallen prey to the binding curse of a witch fifteen years ago. Doumeki remembered nothing but a brief flash of his father yelling, the walls of the house pounding, and his mother sobbing as she clutched his four-year old self to her chest and refused to let him see the fight.

A witch had taken Doumeki Haruka for their own, and it seemed Haruka had not put up a fight at the end. Shizuka's father had explained, many years later, that it was the curse the witch had used that had altered his grandfather's ability to think, so in the end Haruka wasn't to blame for what had happened. He had become nothing more than a puppet, unable to question and reason on his own. It was the most powerful binding curse their generation had ever seen, and no one that knew Haruka actually blamed him for falling prey to such power.

Shizuka would find justice for that, even though the witch that had taken him was likely already dead. Witches did not live long once they succumbed to the wicked magic they lusted for. They were usually very pretty women and men that were targeted to continue the practice. Once they succumbed, they became mad. They killed with relish and without reason, they stole anything that pleased them, and their magic ripped the natural world in devastating ways that allowed hungry spirits to gain purchase in the physical world and wreak their own havoc. The Hunter's Council had been develop nearly a thousand years ago in a desperate attempt to organize a defense against such utter chaos. The Doumeki family had been fighting as hunters since their first son had been cursed by a witch and stolen seven hundred years ago.

Removing his mind from thoughts of the past, Captain Doumeki looked at the lot across from him at the end of the alley. At first glance it appeared to be just that – and empty lot. As he walked closer and focused a house suddenly came into view. The architecture did _not_ match the other ramshackle homes around it. There were crescent moons on the top of the traditionally styled roof, large hydrangea bushes in the front garden, and a colored glass pathway that led up to a set of double doors of mahogany wood.

This house had a very powerful _notice-me-not_ charm. Doumeki was certain this was where the witch lived. It was no surprise no one could find him or her, once they disappeared from the market in the mornings. While this charm itself was powerful and note-worthy Doumeki was certain that he would be fine going in alone. As the youngest captain in the past four hundred years, Doumeki Shizuka was hailed as a prodigy. If the memory of his grandfather's failure had not always been a quiet, looming shadow on his reputation the barely there whispers that he'd be promoted to general soon would likely be much louder. If there was only one witch here he was in no danger, and it was likely that he wouldn't be able to capture the witch once he left this area again. There was more to warding a house from viewers and trespassers than charms. Doumeki was certain that should he return later he would meet more resistance than if he simply went in now.

Without preamble Doumeki walked up the immaculate glass trail and opened up the front door. He drew one of his spell wards and held it at the ready by his chest. Immediately a rush of cool air hit him as the door opened. The relief it brought from the oppressive heat and humidity he tried to ignore, even though the sweat cooling against his skin sent pleasant sensations down his body. His nose tickled with the magic buzzing in the air. Doumeki closed the door and slapped the ward over the seal. Immediately some of the cool air melted away to more summer heat. In response he pulled out another.

The hallway he found himself in was dark. In his other hand Doumeki pulled out his dagger. There was no telling what he'd find further in.

A light spilled in from a sliding door up ahead, and there was noise and the pounding of feet-

"Welcome!"

"Welcome!"

Doumeki blinked when two young girls rushed up to him and bowed lowly. They had oddly colored hair of pink and blue. Their eyes matched their hair. They grinned up at him as if they'd been waiting for him.

"Master's been expecting you!"

"He's been expecting you!" They chorused together.

"What?" He managed to find his voice. While his face was carefully schooled to let no emotion show, he found himself a little flabbergasted. These girls had no aura at all – none that he could detect. Had they no souls? He had always been adept at detecting auras, even from things as mundane as grass and trees. Even witches had souls, twisted and bent as they were. Illusions, then?

The girls grabbed his hands, one for each of them, and pulled him towards the sliding door in front of him that was made of nothing but a wood frame and decorative paper. They seemed utterly careless that he had weapons in each hand. Before he could even protest he found himself in a lushly furnished sitting room. The motif seemed to be butterflies and smokey swirls. There was a man sitting on the couch, surrounded by pillows. He wore an elaborate kimono that was perhaps a size too large for him. It was slipping a bit off his frame to reveal perfect shoulders, a delicate neck and a small peak at a pale chest. One of his legs was propped up on a mahogany coffee table in front of him, the slit of the kimono revealing skin clean up to his thigh. He was lazily smoking from a long teak pipe in one of his slender hands, a smile on his lips. Doumeki couldn't even smell tobacco, but merely a strong scent of cloves and incense.

The man was achingly beautiful. His coal black hair looked baby fine and small strands were fly-away. The cool air was unaffected by Doumeki's earlier ward in the hallway. A pair of eyes so blue they could have been windows to an ocean gazed coolly back at him. "Witch," Doumeki greeted. There was no denying what this creature was.

The man chucked, rich and breathy. "Ah, hunter. So good to see you." He took another drag from his pipe, completely at ease.

Doumeki felt his senses increase with panic. If this witch was so calm, even in the presence of a captain like him, it likely wasn't out of arrogance. This was not a typical response from a witch.

One long hand beckoned him forward. "Come closer, let's get a good look at you."

Doumeki's feet obliged all on their own, even though he did not tell himself to do so. He gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Hmm..." the witch smiled, as if he'd just sipped a fine cup of alcohol. "Black leather armor, weapons, a spell ward in hand..." He chuckled again, as if the attempts at defense were funny. "Strong chin, _striking_ gold eyes... A Doumeki son, then."

_He knows._ Words and names contained power. Every hunter knew that. Doumeki was careful to never let his given name be known to anyone he didn't fully trust, so no one could have full power over him.

The witch laughed again as he pushed his back against his cushions. "Doumeki Shizuka." He puffed his pipe. "I've been waiting for you."

Doumeki forced his will to make his body work for him again. There was magic in this room as well, and he could feel the witch trying to wrap it around him. He flung the spell ward towards the man sitting on the couch and jumped backwards. Without waiting he threw a fistful of his keystone powder in a half circle in front of him and drew his longsword. With one uttered word of power he drew fire from the powder and thrust it forward, the gold flames licking up like a viper striking out at it's prey.

The air become _cold_ like a frozen winter day and his lungs closed tightly in his chest. His eyes flashed with white and gray and blue, his heart pounded when the earth under his feet went _boom!_ Then he was on his knees and invisible rope pulled him forward, back towards the witch. His thrown powder parted around his knees and legs and stuck to his clothes. His arms were pulled roughly behind him in the same invisible bindings. His fingers dug into the tatami mats under him.

The man laughed like a child with a new toy. "Oh, you _are_ a feisty hunter! _Delightful!_" He clutched his hands together in glee and laughed again.

Doumeki struggled against his invisible bonds but his body would not move. "Who... what are you?" He ground out.

The witch smiled as he slid off his couch to kneel in front of the hunter. His hands slithered up Doumeki's shoulders and his fingers tickled at the hunter's hairline. "I, dear hunter, am not a _what,_ I am Watanuki Kimihiro."

"You are a witch," Doumeki growled in frustration. His body twitched as he continued to struggle.

Watanuki giggled and pressed his partially exposed chest against his captive. "A witch? Perish the thought... No my hunter. I am no witch." He pulled back and dragged his right hand along Doumeki's jaw line. He looked extremely pleased with himself.

Doumeki recognized the sense in the statement. Whatever the man was doing to him, it was nothing he'd ever seen a witch do before. He was utterly powerless to do anything, and such a situation had never happened to him before. That didn't explain what he _was_ though.

"I am a Traveler."

Doumeki narrowed his eyes and tried to ignore the sensation of thin, feminine hands running along his neck, through his hair, across his shoulders and down his chest. "Traveler?" He asked.

"Hmm," Watanuki chuckled again. "Yes. Dimension Traveler. I am free to move about from world to world as I wish. As it turns out, this world has been my favorite for a while."

A Dimension Traveler. Doumeki had only ever heard about such creatures from myth and passed down folklore. They weren't supposed to _exist._ He struggled harder. This could not bode well for him. He would not be able to actually defeat a Traveler, if this was indeed what this man was. "What do you want with me?"

"Want with you?" Watanuki repeated, as though it was a question he'd never expected to be asked. He chuckled with a heavy breath and pressed his face into the crook of Doumeki's neck. The hunter felt lips run feather light against his skin. "Oh, Shizuka...that you even need to ask." The hunter gasped lightly when a tongue licked up his neck to the shell of his ear. "You're mine. I intend to keep you."

Doumeki did not even need to think about it to know what this meant for him. His life was essentially over if this was the Traveler's intentions. A curse would be placed on him and his mind would lose the ability to think on its own. He would be subject to the will and suggestions of this Watanuki with no active memory of who he really was.

His family would be in disgrace. While it was inevitable for every clan to lose a few of its members throughout the years to exceptionally powerful foes, it was rare for it to happen so frequently. There was only one generation separating Doumeki Shizuka from his grandfather Harkua. It would appear as if their family had grown weak. Would the Council punish his mother and father? Banish them? Ignore them? Doumeki didn't even want to think about what would happen to that girl he was betrothed to.

Hunters lived very short lives due to their line of work. It was essential that each hunter create offspring to pass down their abilities to fight witches and keep the rest of society relatively safe. It had been determined early on that this might be a difficult task for many hunters. The training usually left a hunter as a cold, detached person that was quick to temper and slight on words. Any woman of proper birth would not want to marry such a man. He would never be home, usually wounded when he was, and likely not very attentive.

No, marriages for hunters were arranged as soon as a the child exhibited the ability to fight magic. Women were picked that would be suitable to bare their children and raise them. The woman would be well taken care of as far as material needs, she would never want for food or clothes or shelter, and the hunter's bloodline would continue. Hunters must marry at nineteen, become fathers at twenty, and usually died by the age of fifty. The body could only handle so much trauma from magic that witches used to fight them. Eventually their heart would simply give out if they did not succumb to insanity first. Doumeki had never seen very many old hunters. The ones he had seen when he was younger were so senile it had been frightening.

Kunogi Himawari was a nice enough girl, though Doumeki never had any desire to accept a wife. As usual, though, he was not given a choice, and he supposed he could have been stuck with worse. Kunogi was a good fit for a hunter. She had been strangely cursed with bad luck. Only herself and her parents were immune to the devastating effects of her curse, and any hunter who's spirit was pure enough could touch her without harm coming to him. For normal society she was a scurge to avoid. For a hunter that would never be home, die young, and be unaffected by her condition, she'd be perfect.

What would the Council do with her afterward? Would they give her to a different hunter? Would _she_ be exiled, since there might not be any more hunters in need of a wife her age? Would they suspect she'd been the cause of his capture? Would they torture her?

The muscles around his heart tightened with pain and his stomach dropped to his knees. Doumeki's body continued to twitch as he struggled against his bonds. "You can't-"

"Oh, yes, Shizuka. I can," Watanuki practically sang. Teeth nibbled at Doumeki's ear as Watanuki started to trail his right hand down the front of the hunter's chest.

Doumeki tried not to think as he felt his armor ripple away from the man's hand like it was becoming water. His armor parted without fanfare and dangled uselessly at his sides. Cool air hit his skin and revealed his toned abdomen.

The nibbling teeth trailed slowly and languorously down his neck, always accompanied by a slick tongue slipping over the taught skin. "Shizuka," Watakuki breathed heavily. The other arm not tracing patterns on Doumeki's chest tightened around his side. "It must be hot outside. I taste the sweat all over you..." The man chuckled lowly, his teeth scraping the area just above Doumeki's clavicle by his shoulder. "Invigorating..."

It was the only warning he had before those very blunt human teeth bit down hard enough to break skin. His muscles seized around the area in protest. Doumeki chocked back a scream, though some of it still slipped past. His hair raised on end and his body buzzed as the magic entered him, swirling around and inside. His blood felt hot under his skin and everything hurt but there was such an intense pleasure that emerged in the whirlwind of agony that it caused him to cry out a second time, though he would not remember doing so. He felt invisible fingers probing at his mind and his ability to think, coaxing him to relax, enjoy..._breathe, my Shizuka. Breathe and cry out for me..._

A tear slide out of the corner of one brass colored eye as the sting of a tongue ran over his new wound. His whole body trembled as the episode came to its close.

Watanuki laughed as he pulled away. There was a drip of blood that clung to the bottom of his lower lip. "You should be heading home now, my dear hunter. Your general will likely be looking for your report soon, won't he?" The Traveler cupped his face like an old lover. "Do not worry. You will find me again, in time."

"I'll never look for you," Doumeki managed to gasp out.

Watanuki merely smiled more widely. He licked the blood from his lip and his eyes twinkled like it was melted ice cream he'd just tasted. "You won't even have to look. It is your fate to be mine. It is...inevitable."

Just as the man leaned forward in an almost kiss, oceanic eyes trained solely upon his, there was a whirl of hot and cold air around him and then everything was gone. Doumeki crumbled to his side once his invisible bindings vanished from around him, his body weak and spent from the binding curse placed upon him. The last remainder of his keystone powder lay around him in the grass of the empty lot the house once occupied. His very bones vibrated with exhaustion.

He'd been a fool to enter that house at all. How he or any of his fellow hunters could stop such a creature, he did not know. If he was honest with himself he didn't think anyone was powerful enough to stop a person with the ability to cross time, space, and dimensions at will and ensnare any that they chose. It was inevitable that _someone_ would fall prey to this Watanuki Kimihiro, but why did it have to be him?

When Doumeki came to, he realized someone was calling out his name. He blinked his eyes open, but they felt dry and sticky. It was difficult and painful to open his eyelids and feel the intensely moist air hit him. The sting caused his eyes to water with moisture. He blinked rapidly to try and clear his vision.

It was the aura of a hunter that was over him and calling for him. The earthy smell in his nose told him he'd fallen asleep in the empty lot at the end of the alley. His limbs were stiff and it felt like a piece of hot iron was pressed against his shoulder still.

He recognized this aura... "Subaru?"

"Captain!" The young man above him said in relief. "I've been trying to wake you for a while now. It's nearly daylight. What happened to you?"

Doumeki looked at his subordinate and tried to formulate a response. He was still too tired to think clearly. "Hnn..." was all he could manage. His head flopped back onto the chilled morning ground.

Subaru's young face twisted with worry above him. Doumeki felt hands and arms lifting him up. He grunted and gasped in protest as his shoulder was moved and jostled. "I need to get you back to the barracks, captain, before everyone wakes up."

Ensign Sumeragi Subaru half walked and half carried his wounded captain over to his waiting horse. Doumeki was not well enough to sit upright on the tall beast, so Subaru settled for flinging the prostrate man over the horse's back before mounting himself. He guided the black creature quickly and quietly out of the village before there were any witnesses.

When Captain Doumeki had not returned to the barracks that night Subaru became worried, and as it turned out it was with good reason. Everyone knew that he'd been given orders by General Monou to investigate the reports of a possible witch in South Cross Village. It should have been simple and routine. It was also strangely suspicious, as it was usually a much lower ranking hunter that would have been sent out. The fact that Doumeki was singled out by the council to be the one to take on the mission was...worrisome. Ensign Subaru decided it would be practical of him to go out and look for his captain once the witching hour had passed and still Doumeki was nowhere in sight.

Subaru had never seen Captain Doumeki so injured before. While it didn't appear that he had sustained any truly heavy wounds, Subaru could detect the curse that had been placed on his captain. The only problem was that he couldn't tell what _kind_ of curse it was. He knew a binding curse when he saw one. Every hunter was trained to detect them and fight against them. This curse looked like a binding curse – it certainly held all the right characteristics at first glance. There was a bite mark on his right shoulder that was crusted with blood. It had drained his energy and left him weak. It wreaked of magic. It was there, however, that the similarities ended. Subaru could not detect the aura of the witch that placed it on him. There was no malevolence around the mark the way there was supposed to be. When he'd tried to use a spell ward to slow down the effects the paper burned to a crisp the moment it touched the captain's affected skin. When Subaru tried to use keystone powder and place his own seal around the curse a bright sharp pain raced up his arm and left his muscles feeling weak, as though he'd just been electrocuted.

Almost...it _almost_ felt like a protection spell, but he'd never seen a protection spell applied so brutally before.

"Nrrrrgh..." Doumeki grumbled from behind him on the horse.

"It's all right, captain. We're heading back. You've been wounded. I'll have the medic take a look at you when we reach the barracks."

"Nnn..no..." Doumeki rasped behind him. He was just coherent enough to know that he couldn't let the council know about the curse on him. They'd lock him up for good, or punish him for his stupidity.

"Captain!" Subaru pressed.

"N-No," he managed to say more firmly.

Subaru sighed. "What happened?"

When Doumeki attempted to speak next he felt his throat constrict around his windpipe. Of course. The Traveler wouldn't want him to speak about him. Things could become troublesome for Watanuki Kimihiro if the Hunter's Council became aware of his presence, even if there was very little they could do to hamper him.

"Was it a witch?" Subaru pressed again.

Doumeki fought against the spell placed on him. "...no," he was finally able to gasp. "Nothing...nothing I've..." he was forced to stop as the magic battled against him. "...I've seen before." The moment the words were out of his mouth his teeth snapped together and his muscles seized again. He wouldn't be able to say anything else about it, he knew.

Subaru's eyes widened with the new information, but he didn't comment any further.

When Doumeki came to again, he opened his eyes to see a sterile white ceiling hanging above him. He was back at the barracks. He grunted as he moved to rest on his uninjured shoulder and gathered his bearings. It appeared that he'd been relieved of his ruined armor and his wound had been cleaned and bandaged. The summer air was still achingly hot during the day, but it was bearable now that he was wearing just a cotton shirt and was only covered with a thin but clean set of sheets on his bed.

Doumeki sighed. He did not know what he was going to do about this new situation, and he also didn't know how he was going to address it with his subordinate. Subaru couldn't say anything to anyone or he'd find himself in a lot of trouble, even if it wasn't his fault.

The sound of creaking hinges from behind him informed Doumeki that someone was entering his room. Padded feet shuffled along until a body made itself known in front of him. Doumeki released a barely detectable sigh at seeing Ensign Subaru.

"Sumeragi," he intoned.

Subaru met his eyes and bowed lightly. "Sir. I'm glad to see you awake."

Doumeki rubbed his eyes and gingerly sat up on his bed. "What time is it?"

"The dinner hour, Sir. You've been resting all day."

Lovely. The commander was going to have words with him, Doumeki was certain.

Subaru visibly fidgeted with the sword holster strapped to his waist. "I informed Commander Sakurazuka that you were resting, as you'd been up all night searching for the witch."

Doumeki narrowed his hawk-like eyes at Subaru. "And?"

Subaru's hand twitched again. "I said you didn't find anything."

The breath the captain released this time _was_ visible. Doumeki was grateful for the lie that his ensign invented for him. "Thank you."

Ensign Sumeragi's posture relaxed, though he still stayed rooted to the spot. What else could he want? "Sir..." he hesitated. Doumeki could see the question coming from three leagues away. "How are you feeling?"

Doumeki grunted and rolled his injured shoulder experimentally. The pain was very nearly gone. "I'm fine."

"Sir-"

"Is there anything else?" He cut off Subaru's next question before it could even be asked.

Subaru swallowed. "Commander said a new squad of hunters from the academy are due in tomorrow morning. He asked that I relay your orders to get them oriented in our barracks at daybreak."

Doumeki internally winced, though his face gave nothing away. He hated new recruits. "Thank you, ensign. That will be all."

Subaru bowed jerkily, then left. Doumeki tried to ignore the concerned eyes that stared at him until his door was closed. Between running from this Watanuki fellow, yelling at wet-behind-the-ears recruits, angry and suspicious generals and commanders, a fiance he didn't want and the Hunter's Council breathing down his neck after this highly suspicious mission, Doumeki could almost see his death by insanity gazing happily back at him through the mirror that hung on the wall in his quarters, merrily waving and winking at him. This death from madness looked suspiciously like the slim, elegant lunatic that had cursed him that very night.

Doumeki was a dead man.


	2. Chapter 2

One week after 'the incident', as his mind had come to refer to his encounter with the Traveler, Captain Doumeki found himself in the training fields outside the 4th Division's barracks with the new recruits. He'd just gotten the fidgety youngsters to gather their practice equipment and line up for archery practice and already he felt a headache growing.

He couldn't stop thinking about the mark the Traveler had left behind on him. Two days after the incident the captain had removed the bandages from his wound and inspected the damage in his mirror. What he found had astounded him.

It had been completely healed. It looked like it could have been nothing more than an old birthmark, a small arch of red skin that was hardly discernable from his normal skin tone. The cynical side of his mind thought it somewhat resembled the arch of a bow, but the most prominent thing Doumeki was reminded of every time he looked at it was the row of teeth that had bitten down into him. A week later and there was no change at all to the new mark. He had a hunch that the mark was at the state where it wasn't going to change anymore.

Six rounds into practice saw Doumeki's headache increase. These louts only had three good shots between all of them, and not one of the recruits stood out from the rest. He restrained a pained sigh as he drew his own bow and strung it accordingly. He blew his whistle and halted the practice.

"You're not concentrating properly," he told all of them as he walked up and down their line. "Do not be concerned with missing. If that is your focus you will miss every time. You must calm your mind. That target is yours. It is yours to strike, and yours to claim. Guide your arrow with carefulness and determination. Respect what you are using to acquire your target, and do it with reverence. Your arrows will thank you."

At this, Doumeki reached back and removed two arrows from his quiver. Even the most skilled of archers had a difficult time with multiple arrows. He never bothered with them himself because of the decrease of the chance of hitting his target, but if he could give these morons something amazing to aspire to it might be worth it.

With a meditative sigh so controlled it was not noticeable, Doumeki took his position and lined up his shot. The recruits were silent with anticipation behind him. Even they had heard of the legendary archery skills their new captain possessed. It was said that Doumeki Shizuka never missed his mark.

When the targets were in his sight and they were all he could see he released his arrows and felt the satisfaction run through him as they neared the bulls-eyes.

When they actually _hit_ their target was a different matter entirely. Doumeki couldn't even blink before the two targets he'd aimed for, and the ones sitting next to them, exploded in a bright burst of hay and ripped canvas material. Sparks flittered about like insects before striking the ground and lighting the displaced heaps of hay on fire.

As the recruits gasped at the sight Doumeki felt himself flush with frustration and embarrassment. That _wasn't_ supposed to happen! He'd never been able to make anything blow up with his arrows before without attaching a charm on them first. What the hell had just happened?

And how the hell was he going to cover up for this?

Just as the talking behind him grew louder Doumeki snapped back around and barked his orders. "Clean up the mess. Next time don't miss while practicing and you won't be given more work to do. When you're finished, report to the kitchens for supper duties. I don't want to see any of you otherwise until daybreak for morning reveille."

With more instructions to follow, the recruits snapped a salute. "Yes, Sir!" They chorused.

Doumeki rushed out of the training grounds and headed straight for his quarters. With barely restrained anger he stuffed his bag with a few provisions and grabbed his weapons. He didn't even bother to close his door as he ran towards the stables and saddled his horse.

Was this another effect of the curse? What else had changed in him? He needed solitude to find these answers. Doumeki was so wrapped up in his worried and harried thoughts that he didn't notice a pair of concerned eyes watch him as he mounted his horse and sped away into the surrounding woodlands.

He rode hard for a solid hour before he allowed the horse to stop and drop its head. Sweat dripped down the poor creature's back like rivers and its sides heaved with gasping breaths. Doumeki spared the beast a brief bit of guilt before he dismounted and loosely wrapped the reins around a nearby low-hanging branch.

He was far enough away from any of the villages or nearby hunter outposts that he could practice in relative solitude and safety. If his arrows were going to blow things up, who knew what his other weapons would do.

With a grunt of roiling anger Doumeki grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows and moved away from his tired horse. He found a few trees that were very old within the forest that hadn't sprouted leaves that year. They were, thankfully, separated from anything that could catch fire if he used these for target practice. Doumeki carefully examined the first arrow he pulled from his quiver. It was an ordinary wood bow, small but sharp falcon feathers on one end and a bound metal arrow head on the other. No charms, no magic, no special wood or enchanted feathers. No paper wards were wrapped around the shaft, and no keystone powder dusted over the wood or protection bells attached anywhere. An average, normal, unimpressive arrow.

Doumeki took a controlled breath, docked the arrow in his bow, aimed carefully, and released his hold.

Both trees exploded in a shower of gold sparks and dancing flames. Clods of dirt flew up in the air that caused dust granules to lodge in his eyes and he blinked rapidly.

His anger spilled over. With no one in sight to see his predicament Doumeki scowled, drew his long sword and growled as he rushed at the base of a tree trunk next to him. He swung with all his might and watched with avid, fascinated horror as the trunk, which had been as thick as three full grown men, was sliced cleanly by his sword's edge. The stories-tall pine groaned in a strange kind of distinguished agony before it rolled away and landed heavily on its side. The noise echoed around him and it was so loud as it reverberated in his ears Doumeki thought maybe he was in another world where sound acted differently and everything felt surreal instead of alive.

What had Watanuki done to him? He felt no different but this power was overwhelming in its effects. The Hunter's Council would lock him up as a traitor the moment they saw this. Hunters, not even _witches_ had powers such as these, not without breaking terrible sweats and passing out from the overload of the magic.

Doumeki... by all the gods that never listened to mortals...he hadn't even _blinked_ to cause such damage. He yelled angrily, dropped to his knees, and punched the ground. He coughed when the dirt flew up and in his face and then away, and then there was a hole in front of him large enough to fill a boulder. He felt like screaming and crying and cursing everything that ever lived.

There had to be a way to control this. He may not have much luck with his archery but if he was gentle enough with his fists and his sword and daggers he might be able to make it through most of his fights and training without anyone becoming the wiser.

A chill slithered up his spine, bright and cold and alert. Doumeki's head popped up and he scanned the horizons around him. Shadows were swirling and coalescing some distance to the north of him.

Maybe it was a witch that was casting a summons. Doumeki almost relished the thought of releasing his pent up anger on a deserving enemy. Swiftly he sheathed his sword and grabbed his bow and dashed towards the collecting shadows. Distantly he heard his horse neigh and protest on the other side of the hill, but he would have to worry about that later.

The shadows screamed, and Doumeki ran until he hit a wall of wind whipping around a central figure cloaked in darkness. A screech to his right drew his attention from the center cacophony and the captain saw a figure stumble out of the windy shadows and lurch towards him.

It was a girl that looked like she'd been a witch for far too long. Her hair was long, tangled and ragged, and her face was sunken around her bones and her eyes looked nearly hollow. Her mouth opened too far for normal human mouths to do and she screeched at him again. This witch was _very_ old. It appeared that her existence had already passed over into the spirit world.

The spirits of dead witches were terrible things. They were things that every hunter dreaded, and no recruit was allowed to go near. They were dangerous, deadly, powerful, and cruel.

Doumeki swung his sword out in a long arch towards the witch. With a flash of sparks and heat her body detached at the middle. Black and blue blood was swept up into the winds and her body soon followed. Doumeki almost allowed himself a howl of triumph as he headed for the next bodies that were making it his way.

There was a good ten minutes of fighting before the tornado of shadows and – now that he knew what they were – spirits in front of him screamed so loudly he thought he might go deaf.

A voice cried out from within. "_This is enough! It ends now!_"

Captain Doumeki's chest lurched painfully when a powerful force pushed him back and he flew away, his back pushed along the ground a good eight feet before he found purchase on a boulder to keep from going further.

The silence afterward was nearly as loud as well. The captain's ears buzzed painfully. His hands felt wet and sore, and when he looked at them he saw that the skin of his palms had broken open as he'd clung to the boulder.

He looked up and focused his sharp yellow eyes to the center of the chaos that had once stood there. His eyebrows furrowed and his blood boiled as he rose to his feet. "You."

Watanuki Kimihiro turned slightly to fix his piercing blue eyes on the hunter. "Shizuka." He laughed lightly, breathy. "It's only been a week. Did you come to look for me already?" He grinned sedately as he pulled his clothing back in order. The shadows, wind, and witches from before were gone.

He was not wearing a fancy kimono this time, but his clothing was still ornate and ceremonial in appearance. Pants, boots, a long jacket that fell past his knees. The patterning was richly detailed and seemed to hold symbols of meaning but they were alien to Doumeki's eyes. Dainty chains wrapped from in front of Watanuki's chest around his shoulders. Interestingly enough he wore no jewelry.

"What have you done to me?" Doumeki demanded. He stood but dared not get any closer to the Traveler.

The pretty man laughed again. The hunter had only to blink before the distant face was suddenly only an inch away from his own and hands were touching his neck and pulling his hair. Doumeki valiantly made no noise as the invisible bindings returned to him and held him firmly in place.

"Shizuka, why would I do anything to you?"

"Stop calling me that," he ground out.

Watanuki clucked his tongue and pulled back to look Doumeki in the eyes. His hands cupped the hunter's face again, his thumbs sliding and smoothing over the shaved skin with delicate care.

"What was all of that just now?" Doumeki pressed for another answer.

Watanuki blinked in what looked like surprise, his eyes wide and, though Doumeki did not believe it for a moment, openly honest. "The witches?"

"_Yes._" Doumeki grunted. "I've never seen so many souls gather like that before."

The hands at his arms and shoulders squeezed. "Did you supposed a being such as myself would be free of their pursuits? They _hunt_ me, Shizuka, just as surely as you hunt them. Why else would you think I'd love a hunter such as you to be mine?" Watanuki smiled at his little revelation.

"I _won't,_" Doumeki stressed again.

"My dear hunter, still you fight me after all I've given you?"

Doumeki's body twitched as he struggled. "You cursed me."

Watanuki lowered his mouth to the area the mark was on the hunter's shoulder. With no trouble he removed the clothing in the way and greedily tasted the mark. "You think so little of me, love. This is no curse. This is my seal. No one can take it from you. It will protect you, make you stronger-"

"Bind me from speaking of you, force me to obey you," the captain finished for him.

"Hmm," Watanuki contemplated. He moved his lips up to Doumeki's ear. "Yes, you must not speak of me. Things would be...troublesome otherwise. Your council is a wicked and corrupted thing, noble as their intentions are. But force you? Shizuka," Watanuki admonished. He chuckled. "You'll do what I ask of your own free will. There will be no force involved."

Doumeki growled. "Violating my mind is force."

The grin the man gave him was chilling. "No more violating than pleasures of the flesh. I would never do either in a way that caused actual harm."

And then the Traveler kissed him. It was a hard kiss, it forced his mouth open and a hot tongue caressed everything it came in contact with. Hands were pulling at him again and then there was skin on skin, but they were still standing and Watanuki was oddly just a little shorter than him, so he was not surprised when he felt his body suddenly thrust to the ground and thin but strong legs straddle him.

Doumeki tried not to admit to himself that Watanuki tasted better than any food he'd ever eaten. A spark of warmth pooled into his stomach like thick syrup and those hands suddenly felt hotter than they ever had before when they grabbed at his suddenly throbbing erection. "Ah," Watanuki gasped with a breathy smile before diving back into their kiss. He seemed incredibly pleased by the reaction he was getting from the hunter's treacherous body.

"Oh, Shizuka..."

"Nnngh..." Doumeki panted.

Watanuki laughed in a way the hunter had never heard before. "...You taste even better than Haruka did."

Doumeki's eyes snapped open and hatred filled him. "_You took him._" His body trembled as his struggles against his binding did not cease. "I'll kill you." The fact that Watanuki held no shame, no remorse, only _amusement_ at his reaction angered him further. He hated this being with every fiber of his existence.

"Only because he asked me to, Shizuka."

It was no wonder Haruka had not been able to fight. It was Watanuki Kimihiro that had taken him. Watanuki Kimihiro that looked no older than someone in their early twenties.

"Because you forced him to!"

Those bright oceanic eyes softened as they gazed down at him. "No...with Haruka, I forced nothing. He begged me to take him."

"He wouldn't-!"

"You do not know the pain of the Hunter's Heart Attack, do you Shizuka?"

The what? While Doumeki writhed and simmered he had to admit he did not know of anything called the 'Hunter's Heart Attack.'

"When a hunter becomes old his body breaks down from the strain of the witches' magic. The pain he feels when his heart finally stops... my dear hunter. It is a mercy to slit his throat first."

"You're lying."

"No." Watanuki's fingers curled in the captain's hair. "Just ask your Commander Sakurazuka. He's a cruel man, Shizuka. He will not garnish the truth of it." He smiled almost sadly. "Hate me if you must. I will not apologize. He was a magnificent man, and it was a tragedy the day the world lost him. But...even still. You will come to me, in the end."

"Why do you do this to me?"

Watanuki smiled. "You are my Intended. I will never leave you alone."

_Author's Note:_

_I apologize for not putting this up on the first chapter. It was quite late a night and I simply forgot. Yes! I did get the inspiration for this story from another xxxHolic fanfiction. I could not post it for reference because I had sadly forgotten it, and I only wrote this because it wouldn't leave me alone and it has been nearly a year since the last update on the fic that inspired this story. The name of the story is Unnatural Light by Imbrii. It is fantastic, and even though it isn't finished I suggest it for some good reading anyway. Here's the link if it will work: _http : / . net /s/5879473/1/Unnatural_Light

_I hope this chapter wasn't _too_ shocking of a revelation. I promise that Watanuki really does have good reasoning for this insanity and it will all be revealed in good time. _

_Please also note that I will be using characters from Legal Drug, X/1999, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, and anything else CLAMP as I need characters. CLAMP does it, alternate universes are canon, so by gumb it I will hold true to the belief that any and all good fanfictions are canon too! Who says they couldn't happen? _

_Anyway, if there are any other questions I will answer them as I can through either pm's or reviews. Thank you._


	3. Chapter 3

"_Why do you do this to me?" _

_Watanuki smiled. "You are my Intended. I will never leave you alone." _

Intended? What in all the worlds did _that_ mean? Watanuki had said that word with such meaning Doumeki had to wonder at the significance of it. Instead of a well worded, witty, eloquent come-back, Doumeki merely grunted at the person above him with a disgruntled "_What?_"

The Traveler's head popped up and his attention was immediately diverted to some area in the distance, beyond the trees to their left. The captain trapped beneath him could not hear or sense anything yet, but if something had caught the other man's attention he didn't doubt that whatever it was, it was coming their way.

"Che," Watanuki huffed. He looked back to Doumeki and, after a short pause, grinned. He pushed his cheek against Doumeki's softly, reverently, and pressed his lips against the captain's ear. "It seems we will have company in a moment. I must take my leave, although I look forward to our next encounter."

Doumeki growled lowly in his throat.

Watanuki chuckled so deeply his whole chest vibrated. "My feisty hunter. If you're anything like your grandfather the sex will be _earth-shattering_." The look in the Traveler's eyes said he could hardly wait.

As Doumeki shouted curses Watanuki laughed maniacally while he jumped up and hopped away. From behind him another invisible whirlwind kicked up around him and whisked him away with barely a blink.

The captain hauled himself up to his knees and ground his teeth together in frustration. That man... he was just baiting him now. He would have to keep his temper in check if he ever wanted to gain the upper hand with that _creature_ the next time they crossed paths.

If Watanuki was to be believed, and there _wasn't_ to be force involved in this ordeal with him, if he was strong enough then Doumeki could resist him.

He must resist him. Everything would fall apart if he didn't.

The pounding of hooves on packed earth was the first warning Doumeki had that someone else had entered the clearing. He forced his fists to unclench and schooled his face as the unsurprising visage of his subordinate came into view.

"Captain Doumeki!" Subaru called to him as he pulled on the reins of his horse to slow the creature down.

Even though Doumeki was not surprised to see Subaru had followed him, he wasn't pleased. "Ensign, what are you doing here?"

"I-" Subaru paused and fidgeted in his saddle. Doumeki was getting very tired of Sumeragi's growing awkwardness. "I was worried for you. I saw the training accident today. Are you..?" His question was unfinished but the tone was still conveyed.

Doumeki suppressed a sigh and stood upright. "I'm fine, and ensigns aren't supposed to leave their stations without prior orders."

Subaru visibly blushed in embarrassment. "Yes, Sir," was the automatic response. His eyes traveled over his captain's form. "What happened here? You're all torn up."

Belatedly Doumeki looked down at himself and noticed that the high winds that had been charged with magic had ripped at his armor and clothing. It was true – they were a tattered mess. His hands were still dripping with blood and his weapons were askew on the ground. Doumeki resolutely ignored his state of attire and started to collect his things. "There was a nest," he lied smoothly. It was only a partial lie, after all. While it hadn't been a true nest, there _had_ been a collection of witches larger than any nest he'd ever encountered before.

_They hunt me, Shizuka, just as sure as you hunt them..._

They'd been after Watanuki. It was strange to think that not even powerful and terrifying beings like Watanuki Kimihiro were free of the plague of witches.

"A nest?" Subaru asked with astonishment. "Here?"

"Here," Doumeki confirmed. He looked down the side of the hill that still had not been revealed to Subaru. "Down there," he pointed.

Subaru dismounted his horse and jogged over to the indicated area. His eyes widened in surprise. "I see."

There were about eight bodies on the ground, all in various states of decapitation, dismemberment, or worse. Both captain and ensign picked their way through the recent graveyard of dead beings. "Some of these are really old," Subaru commented. "Where there-"

"Spirits, yes," Doumeki confirmed.

"How many?"

"...Two," he said, while his mind supplied _'about fifty.'_ But that was hardly here nor there, as he hadn't been the one to deal with those anyway.

"You were all alone!" The surprise in Subaru's voice was not unfounded. Very few hunters could take on such circumstances alone and survive.

Doumeki shrugged noncommittally. "Hn." Now that he had his sword again he started to cut the heads off of the bodies where they were still attached and gather them. The council demanded that all heads of witches be removed and confiscated. The identities were to be determined, the level of magic evaluated, and the teeth and hair used for counter-measures in defeating new ones. Subaru started helping without needing to be prompted.

Doumeki found his frustrations start to mount again. Subaru had already picked up that there was some external force that was affecting his captain and he seemed bound and determined to help and fix whatever it was. Doumeki didn't quite know how to tell the poor sod off without arousing suspicion.

"Where's your horse, captain?" Subaru asked once the heads had been stuffed into a spare sack from his pack of supplies.

Doumeki grunted. "Still attached to the tree that way," he pointed with his finger, "if it didn't manage to free itself during the fight."

Subaru nodded and started to walk with him in the right direction. Doumeki knew it would be a long ride home.

Indeed, it was. They ran their horses as often as they could, but still it was nearly daybreak by the time they reentered the village where their barracks were located. Doumeki and Subaru wordlessly led their tired horses into the stables and removed the saddles and gear. They did not worry about brushing or feeding the beasts, as the stable hands were already up and starting to go about their day. The horses would be tended to in a matter of minutes by other hands.

Subaru volunteered to drop off the heads of the dead witches at the collection counter, which allowed Doumeki to trudge tiredly into the barracks towards his private quarters.

He most certainly did _not_ expect to see his commander waiting in his room at his desk when he entered.

"Commander," he intoned, though was careful to not let any surprise enter his voice or expression.

"Captain," Sakurazuka replied.

Doumeki dropped his pack by his bunk and sat down. "Is there something you need from me?"

The commander's grin was eerie as he leaned back and propped an ankle across his knee. "There's nothing wrong with catching up, now is there?"

Doumeki's look was deadpan. Sakurazuka's falsetto tactics had never worked very well on the lower ranked captain. The commander sighed at the loss of the verbal battle. "This is the second time you've been gone all night in a week, Shizuka."

Doumeki tried very hard not to wince at the use of his first name. It made him extremely uncomfortable.

"It's also the second time you've been out all night, only to have cute Subaru bring you home. What _have_ you been up to?"

Doumeki needed a diverting subject in order to throw off the questions he couldn't answer. He released a sigh, a controlled one, because he wanted the other to see the emotions such an action was supposed to convey. "What is the Hunter's Heart Attack?"

Sakurazuka Seiichiro laughed, long and hard and loud. He even wiped an invisible tear from the corner of one eye. "Ah ha! So someone spilled a little to you, did they? You haven't been visiting the veteran's center, have you?"

Doumeki was glad he refrained from ever saying much. When he didn't say anything, it wasn't an admission of guilt, but usually a silent reply that the person talking to him was an idiot. He did, however, clutch one of his hands into a fist at the commander's reaction. _Watanuki couldn't have been right. He was lying and twisting the truth around to deceive me, he couldn't be right...!_

The commander grinned at him, and there was something dark and razor sharp in his eyes. "Ah, Shizuka, it's terrible what happens to the old ones, they say. If you don't go insane first, you _will_ when you die. You see, it's in the _way_ the magic affects the heart in later years. When you become old enough, and there's been enough malicious magic exposed to your body, your heart will grow weak. Eventually, it will slow down to an agonizing pace. Your body won't get enough blood, and you will start to loose your limbs and your organs, one by one. By the time your body is dying from too little blood flow, you will lose the ability to move, to talk, even to scream." Sakurazuka licked his lips as the story rolled off his tongue. "The magic breaks something in you, because you won't be able to sleep, or eat, or gain any reprieve from the pain. Your death can last anywhere from three days...to a few weeks... the longest one on record is four months. The stronger the hunter you were, the worse it will be."

His heart had never felt so cold or empty. "How do we know this? No one can speak while it is happening."

Sakurazuka laughed again. "Why do you think empaths won't be caught _dead_ near a veteran's center?"

When the understanding dawned on him of the horrible truth of it all, the blood must have drained from his face because there was a reaction from his captain. "Heh. I suppose I can forgive you for running off a little. Makes you just a bit angry, doesn't it? Not knowing all this time?"

"Why aren't any of us warned about this sooner?"

The commander shrugged. "Who'd want to be a hunter with a guaranteed death like that? Council is filled with nothing but a bunch of placating, conniving pussies if you ask me. Shit like this is mandated, after all." He grinned again. "They should all know young. To agonize over it, for so long, to really _know_ when you're going to die..."

Watanuki was right. His commander really was a cruel man. Doumeki suddenly wanted to do nothing more than cry himself to sleep.

Sakurazuka stood up from the captain's desk chair. "Take the day off tomorrow, captain. Take the day to mourn or cry or whatever it is you do to cope. I want to see you back to normal right after that." He turned and looked Doumeki in the eyes before he exited the small room. "There shouldn't be any more issues with these...excursions, I expect." His eyes narrowed dangerously. The threat was plainly visible for any that dared look. Doumeki gave a curt nod and was glad when his door finally closed with a resounding _snap!_

_Grandfather...what did this world do to you?_

When his eyes opened again, he was sitting on the steps of a temple house. The grounds were large and expansive, with multiple sakura trees that dotted the landscaping. The time of day looked like it was sunset. Doumeki knew it was a place he'd never been before. He wondered if it was a dream.

"Hello, Shizuka."

Indeed, it was a dream. Doumeki turned his head to look at the person that was suddenly sitting next to him. It was his grandfather, though his face looked younger than the last time Doumeki remembered seeing him.

He could hardly remember what his grandfather looked like, now that he thought about it. He'd only been four when _that man_ took him away. He could see now that they were very nearly twins. "I don't want to see you."

Haruka pulled a lungful of smoke from the pipe in his hands. "I'm sure, but there are some things that you need to hear."

Shizuka dropped his shoulders and hunched over his lap. "I've heard enough."

"You've not heard my story."

"I don't c-"

"He's a gentle lover, Shizuka."

Doumeki ground his teeth. "Don't talk about it."

His grandfather sighed. "You are his Intended, you know. This is something you cannot fight. To resist, well... it could very will kill you in the end, I suppose."

Doumeki's eyes snapped to that of his grandfather's with accusation. "What does that mean? His 'Intended?'"

"It means you were born for him. Seven hundred years ago, Watanuki Kimihiro used a scrying pool to divine where, when, or who his Intended would be. Every Traveler has one. It is the only concession the Fates would allow these immortal beings. One Intended soul mate to stay with them forever. It was up to the Traveler to find this person, no matter what world or what time they are born in, and solidify the bond before their mortal mate died. If they were too late... there would be no second chance."

"Ridiculous."

Haruka shook his head. "He thought I was you, Shizuka. Our spirits and auras are very similar. He couldn't take the chance that it _wasn't_ me, because if it had been and he'd waited it would have been too late."

"And seven hundred years ago he divined that it was me, but mistook me for you?"

"No," his grandfather replied. He took another drag from his pipe. The sweet tobacco smoke lazily filled the air around them both. "Seven hundred years ago, the scrying pool told Kimihiro that his Intended would be born in this dimension, and be born a Doumeki. For seven hundred years, he's been watching us, and waiting, and taking those he thought might be you, but never were."

"Then there's a chance that it's _not_ me," Doumeki reasoned.

Haruka smiled at him. "Not this time. Even the dead like me can see it."

Doumeki looked forward again, away from his deceased relative. "Then I'll die fighting him. I don't want it."

"He saved me, Shizuka. I know you are angry, but he did save me from a fate worse than death, worse than dying."

"You still died."

"Yes, but many years after I was supposed to, without the scars of insanity to carry with my soul, and without any pain."

Shizuka's gold colored eyes moved to look at him again.

Haruka leaned back on his hands. "If Kimihiro hadn't found me, I would have died when you were eight. As it was, I did not die until you were fourteen. He took care of me, even when I became so weak I could not move."

"Hn."

Haruka shook his head. "You are still angry, my grandson. My words will not convince you." At this he stood up and moved to stand in front of his grandchild. In one fluid motion he moved the index finger of his right hand to point at Shizuka's forehead. "So, you will see my story, as I saw it, and felt it, and you will know."

Doumeki's vision flashed white, and then he was falling.


	4. Chapter 4

Doumeki Haruka fell to his knees and sucked in deep, greedy gasps of air. He pushed the tip of his sword into the ground and leaned on the hilt in an attempt to keep himself upright.

The scouts had not lied. There had been a nest of witches five leagues to the south of their village. As a general, he'd taken two squadrons of hunters with him to eradicate the nest of nearly a dozen witches. These women, and women they were for there was not one young girl among them, had been powerful. They had also been crazy enough to summon spirits to aid them.

General Doumeki Haruka was the only one left alive.

His side was split open and he'd lost vision in his right eye from the blood that continued to leak into it from his head wound. Haruka's body shook and he clutched at his chest as his heart quivered painfully.

His death was soon coming, he could feel. At forty-four years old he was already feeling the effects of a weakened heart. He had fought too much, too young, and been injured too often to live any longer than a couple more years, if he was lucky.

"Ah... hunter. My hero after all."

Haruka's head snapped up at the new voice he'd just heard. Last he'd looked around there was no one left alive in the clearing. The owner of the voice came into his view as the person kneeled in front of him. Soft, slender hands cupped his face and suddenly his vision was locked on a pair of deep blue eyes gazing back at him.

It was the most beautiful face of a man he'd ever seen. As the man came closer he felt baby-fine hair tickle at his cheek. "Who-" He tried to back up and away from the tender embrace.

"Hold still, general. If your side opens up any more your organs will start to spill." Those gentle hands held tighter and moved to his neck. Haruka felt his body freeze and refuse to move no matter how many times he tried to struggle.

"Who are you? How did you get here?"

The man smiled sedately as he began the meticulous process of removing Haruka's ruined and bloody armor. "Watanuki Kimihiro." Haruka blinked when the man's hand swept across his forehead and removed some of the blood there. A cooling sensation skittered across his skin, and as the wound began to close it felt like the tiny little feet of insects were running across the newly mending flesh.

A healer? It was plausible, but the man did not have the aura of one.

"Lay down, Haruka."

The hunter did not even need to try and comply, because the invisible bonds around him tightened just slightly and pulled, then he found himself on his back with his wound fully exposed to this stranger. Watanuki pushed his hands against the opening in his side. The same cooling and tickling attacked him again as the larger wound was bound together. Haruka watched in fascination as his blood slipped past those slim, elegant fingers. Haruka groped his lucidity back from wherever it was being dragged to. "How do you know my name?"

The beautiful man smiled at him serenely. "Dear hunter. I know many things about you." He suddenly lifted one of his slender legs over the hunter so that he was now straddling him, then leaned down and tucked his face into the crook of Haruka's neck. "You are a general, and a highly decorated one. You have a son that admires you and a grandson that idolizes you. Your wife committed suicide not five years ago after her brother, a hunter, died a particularly painful death from the Hunter's Heart Attack." A tongue ran up his neck and cleared a path in the blood. "You already are dying, and you wonder why you lived while your much younger hunters in your squads tonight died."

Haruka's heart thudded loudly in his chest. "What are you?"

Watanuki clucked his tongue. "I'm not a what, Haruka! Please, Kimihiro will do!"

Haruka struggled against his bindings more. "You're not a witch... you don't smell like one. What are you?"

The man sighed dramatically, then sat up straight. The shift in position placed more weight on Haruka's lower region. His body twitched in reply, but the man merely smiled again. "A Dimension Traveler, and I've been watching you, Doumeki Haruka. I believe you just might be the one."

His heart beat louder still even as his stomach spasmed in fear. "You shouldn't exist- _Argh!_" Haruka's arms came free of his invisible bonds and he clutched at his chest in pain.

"_Haruka,_" Watanuki admonished. He leaned down again and placed his hands underneath of where the general was clutching himself.

The relief was immediate. Hakura felt an immensely heavy weight lift from his chest as the agony was washed away by this man's magic. His eyes became unfocused as a deep sense of pleasure and peace filled him. It felt like a sweet song was vibrating through his bones, the serenity that filled him was unlike any he'd ever experienced, even during his most successful meditations. "I-" He tried, but really he didn't have the brain power to think beyond that.

Watanuki kept one of his hands in place as he leaned down and pressed his lips against Haruka's. "Breathe easy, my hunter. I found you, and just in time."

Kimihiro smelled like summer rain. The general never wanted those hands to leave him.

Wandering lips traveled down his neck to his clavicle and suckled greedily. "I must leave you, but I will leave a parting gift. I will find you again soon, my dear Haruka."

Teeth bit down into the skin of his shoulder, but Haruka was so drunk from the effects of the healing spells he barely registered the pain. Magic filled him again, different from any other magic he'd felt before. His muscles tightened in him with strength and the rattling of his weary heart stilled, then the pumping muscle became steady. Kimihiro's scent filled his nose and all he could see was soft black hair and a cloudy sky above him.

"No," Kimihiro whispered above him. The man sighed with dejection and Haruka wondered what had gone wrong. "Not again..." He lifted himself, his eyes filled with disappointment.

The general's eyebrows knitted together in concern. "Kimihiro...?"

The Traveler's hands slid across his jaw line. "It's not you, but even still. I have given you my seal, and I will care for you." He shook his head. "The effects will be swift, and you will be unable to fight it. I beg you not to try, it will only hurt." He stood up fully. Haruka's eyes teared up at the sudden loss. He didn't understand what went wrong, but the sadness in the air made him want to fix it.

There was a rush of air both hot and cold, then Kimihiro was gone.

. . . . . . . . . .

Two weeks later found Haruka going mad with loss. Every night he dreamed those deep blue eyes were all he could see. Kimihiro had _said_ he would find him again, but how long did he have to wait?

The pains in his chest were very nearly gone. On the few instances that it had returned the mark on his neck would flare to life with heat that slithered down his skin and seeped into his heart. While uncomfortable at first, it did bring relief that he was grateful for.

His son had noticed he was acting distant ever since the catastrophe on his last mission. Everyone assumed it was a multitude of things that was causing the change in demeanor, his age and the nightmares it must have been causing the most likely factors.

Kino had seen his father go through similar circumstances and noticed that Haruka had never acted quite _this_ way before.

That night, as the two sat together in the family home, away from the barracks for once, Kino noticed how his father merely stared at his food with little interest in it. He merely sipped his tea and twiddled with his eating utensils like Kino's four-year old son was oft to do when something did not go his way.

"Dad?" He asked. Haruka did not seem to hear him. Not even a flicker of recognition passed over his eyes. "Dad," he pressed again.

Haruka's tired yellow eyes looked up at him across the table. It was just the two of them, as Kino's wife Yakani had taken their son Shizuka to bed a few minutes prior. "Hmm?"

Kino sighed. "I'm worried about you, dad. You've been more quiet than normal. And you haven't smiled since..."

Haruka sighed. "I suppose I have." Here he smiled, even though it looked forced and fake. "I'm fine. Don't worry for an old man like me."

"_Father,"_ Kino pressed. Such sentiments had never been tolerated in their house before.

Haruka's smile was genuine this time. He sighed afterward and dropped his utensils to rub a hand across his shoulder. Kino's eyes narrowed as he noticed the gesture. Haruka had been rubbing that spot a _lot_ lately. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Haruka shrugged and went to stand. "Nothing damaging."

Kino stood with him and moved to stand in front of his father. Without waiting for consent he grabbed the older man's wrist and moved it out of the way, which left his other hand free to pull down the neck of the kimono that Haruka wore.

He hissed when he saw the mark upon his father's skin, a pink arch that seeped with magic around it. "_No!_"

Haruka snapped away from his son's hold and pulled his kimono properly closed again.

"You've been cursed!" He nearly shouted.

The general closed his eyes. "It's not a curse, Kino. It's the reason I've not been in so much pain recently."

Kino pulled a crinkled spell ward from one of the pockets in his clothes and advanced on his father. "The hell it's not! Please, father, tell me you haven't gone senile yet!" There was a brief struggle as Haruka fought off his son's advance with the ward, but eventually the paper managed to touch his skin. Kino yelped when it lit on fire immediately on contact. "What _is_ that?"

The general's hand went back to covering his neck. "Nothing you've seen before. Please, trust your father on this. There's nothing to fight here."

Kino opened his mouth to protest when a knocking sound came from the door. Haruka made no hesitation to exit the room and make his way to answer it. He was not very pleased with who was on the other side. "Oh, General Ashura. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

General Ashura smiled at him. Haruka had always rather despised his peer. He seemed to delight far too much in the pain of others. "New orders from the council, General Doumeki. You and I need to saddle up with three teams and spread out over the southern farmlands. There's a raid underway."

. . . . . . . . . .

Haruka ignored the twinge in his chest as his heart twitched painfully in place. He released his arrows one after another as quickly as he could. This raid had been ugly.

Several young boys and girls had been dragged out of their homes by a seemingly mass exodus of witches in a sweeping attempt to gain more numbers. The younger the child was, the easier it was to convert them.

The mark on his shoulder thrummed with magic in time with his heartbeat. The feeling of it spreading through him seemed to tell him something about what he was doing. Kimihiro's magic did _not_ like witches at all, and any that got too close to him were immediately zapped by an invisible barrier the mark formed around him.

Haruka loved his family with everything he had, but even then he could not stay with them forever. He did not want to get shuffled off to the veteran's center to die a painful death, and he more importantly did not want his family to see it. Kino did not understand right now, but in time he would. In time, when his death was knocking on his front door and demanding he be ripped away from all he cared about, one taste of the peace the Traveler offered would seem like a slice of heaven before oblivion. Haruka wanted that slice of heaven more than the air he breathed.

The last witch screamed as his arrow sped into her and she collapsed on the ground, even her limbs no longer twitching. The general sighed and rubbed at the center of his chest again. These missions were going to kill him quickly. He couldn't take the onslaught any longer. _Kimihiro, where on earth are you?_

Heat pressed against his back and arms wrapped around him. The smell of summer rain entered his nose. "Haruka, you've gone an injured yourself again. I can't leave you alone for a moment, can I?"

The hunter collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. He turned and wrapped his arms around the slim body, clutching the Traveler to him. "Where were you?"

Watanuki lowered himself to the hunter's level. "Family affairs kept me busy." His fingers curled into the hair at the back of Haruka's head and drew him in for a kiss. Haruka sighed at the contact. Kimihiro's magic filled him again and the feeling of his heart being split at the seams vanished.

"Take me with you," Haruka pleaded.

Watanuki nuzzled him affectionately. "Not yet, love. Soon. Very soon."

"Please," the hunter pleaded. "My heart can't take any more missions."

"And it won't have to," Kimihiro assured him. He kissed him again, fierce and hard and it left Haruka's mind reeling. "Let me take you home." Kimihiro stood and pulled Haruka by his arms to follow. The Traveler embraced him. The hunter felt the air twist around them into a silent whirlwind. Reality shifted like a mirage in a desert, sliding and changing and morphing.

A touch from Kimihiro's lips to his neck and suddenly they were in his bedroom back at the Doumeki family home. The beautiful man pushed the general to lay down on his bed and he complied.

The pads of Watanuki's fingertips danced across his chest and massaged the area directly above his heart. The incomprehensible peace from before settled into his bones and Haruka wanted nothing more than to bask in that feeling forever.

The hands on him paused as the sound of his door creaked open. Haruka was nearly going to ignore it until he heard a faint "Grandpa?" He turned his head and noticed the tiny body that had entered his room. "Shizuka," he murmured.

Watanuki froze as he looked at the tiny four year old boy. _So... this is where he'd be. _He stood and slowly made his way over to the small child. He knelt before him. "Hello, Shizuka."

Sharp gold eyes looked up at him and childish eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Who're you?"

Watanuki smiled when he put a hand on Shizuka's head and ruffled his hair. _Yes._ He could feel it. This child would be the one. Oh, but he was so young yet. He had many years to wait. "I'm a friend of your grandfather's. He's very tired right now. You should go and get some rest, too. It's very late."

The body rubbed his eyes at the reminder of the hour. "Momma said he had a mission."

"He did. He's back now, so go to sleep."

Shizuka shuffled passed Watanuki and looked over his grandfather's form on the bed. Haruka smiled at his grandson. "He's right, Shizuka. Get some rest. I will see you tomorrow."

Satisfied, the boy nodded. "Okay."

Once he was out the door Watanuki locked it. He came back to Haruka's side and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Sleep, Haruka. I will be back shortly."

"Don't make me wait long." He clutched at Kimihiro's hands like the other was going to disappear forever.

Pleasure thrummed through his blood when he was kissed again. He suddenly felt the intense need to press every part of himself against this man. Watanuki chuckled against his mouth. "I don't break my promises. I bound you to myself even though you're not fully compatible. I will take care of you, no matter what now."

. . . . . . . . . . .

When Haruka awoke he was nearly in a fever. It had been two days since Watanuki had brought him home from the battle field. He'd been calling the man's name as he slept, so when he awoke he found his son had bound him to his bed with thick rope. Protection bells had been attached to the knots and they jingled every time he struggled.

Kino, for his part, had looked apologetic, and had told his father that he was sorry, but it was for his own good. Haruka was unable to get truly angry, for it was not in his nature to do so, but never before had he wanted to punch his son so much as he did after those words.

He refused to eat, and Kino refused to let him go. Finally, after the end of the second day, the walls of the house shook as the front door was burst open by powerful gale force winds. Haruka could smell the Traveler in the air as soon as the wind made it to his door.

There was yelling, shouting, cursing, then his bedroom door burst open. "Kimihiro!" He cried out.

Watanuki's eyes looked at him, then narrowed dangerously. "Haruka, oh, what have they done to you?"

The hunter struggled against the ropes that tied him down. "I tried to leave, to look for you. They wouldn't let me!"

Kino's body shook as he kneeled on the ground, unable to move and stop this... witch... enter his home and steal his father. "Leave him alone!" he shouted. No matter how hard he tried he could not move.

Kimihiro sat next to the man that was straining to get near him. He seemed remorseful in some way as the ropes melted away from his hands. The seal was _not_ fully compatible with Haruka, and now the only thing he could think about was Kimihiro and the incredible feelings his magic offered.

A pain free body was a unique, mysterious thing for an old hunter such as himself. He wasn't to be blamed.

As soon as he was free he sat upright quickly and wrapped his arms tightly around Watanuki. The Traveler's fingers found small purchase in his short black hair. "It's time I brought you home, your final home, Haruka."

"Stop! You monster!" Kino roared. Tears of frustration crested in his eyes. Watanuki merely ignored him, as did his father.

The wind picked up again, and the house shook with the force of it. An instant later and Watanuki and Haruka both were gone. Kino's fists clenched together so tightly his knuckles turned white. The sound of his wife and son crying in the room down the hall were all he could hear, aside from his haggard breath.

. . . . . . . . . .

Kissing Kimihiro was nothing short of drinking copious amounts of opium. Thoughts of the outside world faded away, along with the physical pain and mental anguish that had become his daily companions. When they made love Haruka felt his body might burst from the intense pleasure he felt. Kimihiro was fully dedicated to him.

His lover would whisper secrets in his ears during the times he rested in the Traveler's arms and relaxed a day away. He explained the search he was on, and what his Intended was supposed to be. He explained there were other Travelers like himself, where some had found their Intended, some not yet, and yet others still had sadly missed their chance.

He'd been away for two weeks because some Traveler, one of his friends named Yuui, had been too late to acquire his. Yuui committed suicide, and his twin Fai had been thrown into agony.

The names glazed over Haruka's mind but did not stick to his memory. His only care was listening to the sound of Kimihiro's voice tickling at his ear. He did not know if this was love or blind infatuation, but his pain was gone, tranquility hummed blissfully inside of him, and he didn't care.

Sometimes he would hear about the progress his grandson was making as he grew. Kimihiro spoke with pride as he explained the young Doumeki had taken up the bow and was showing skills that might one day surpass that of his grandfather and father. He talked about how he was a quiet and dedicated and did everything with purpose and pride. Haruka was content to hear his grandson was not drowning in the loss of his relative.

One day, he found he could not move his legs from the bed. Kimihiro had said nothing, but his eyes were sad, so he started to bring Haruka's meals to him in bed.

Weeks later, Haruka could not move his arms or his torso. He felt no pain, no sensations at all. He felt no shame, only gratefulness, as Kimihiro's gentle hands bathed him, dressed him, and fed him.

One day, as Kimihiro clutched him and pressed his hand against his heart, Haruka confessed "I wish it could have been me."

The hold on him tightened. "Of all the Doumeki men I've mistaken for my Intended, you are my favorite, Haruka. A part of me wishes it could have been you as well." His breath washed over the dying hunter's neck. "But do not spend time wishing for something that could never be. It will only bring grief." Kisses dotted across his neck. "Be grateful for the time we have had together, instead."

"I am," Haruka confirmed. "I love you." Kimihiro's magic continued to be pumped into his chest. "I'm dying," he mused out loud.

"Rest," the Traveler merely said. "You must rest now. Your soul needs it."

Haruka closed his eyes. "I will miss you."

"You will never be truly gone, Haruka. We will still see each other in the Dreamscape."

He smiled. "I'm glad."

A handful of breaths later, and his chest stop rising, and his heart stopped beating. Kimihiro spared a few tears that slid down his cheeks. He would miss this man.

. . . . . . . . . .

Doumeki Shizuka woke up in a cold sweat. His heart thudded painfully, and he thought he felt the ghost of pain his grandfather had shared with him in the Dreamscape. For a moment he didn't remember which person he was and he had to jump out of bed and stumble to the mirror on his wall.

His eyes were dark with bags under his eyes. His hair was a mess and adrenaline pumped through him. He couldn't separate Haruka's intense feelings for the Traveler from his own yet and he felt a sob choke up in his throat. He wondered for a moment if he'd ever find himself again.


	5. Chapter 5

Doumeki had woken up from his dream sometime around midday. After he stumbled away from his mirror and allowed himself to wallow in the baths for nearly half an hour, his mind started to puzzle over how long he'd been asleep. It had felt like forever – a lifetime of Haruka's memories had been transferred to him during that dream, but he'd only been in the Dreamscape for mere hours in the real world. It was bizarre how differently time could travel on another plane.

Then Doumeki began to wonder just how much of what he'd seen had been true. How much of his dream had been just that – a benign dream? Had his grandfather really shown him his memories? Had Watanuki planted that dream in his mind? And just like that the captain had to clutch at his head and squeeze his eyes closed as he tried to shove aside those foreign emotions of adoration and devotion this dream had started to bring up every time he thought about the Traveler.

A part of him, deep down inside of his conscious thought, buried beneath fear and shame and anger, there were a stab of jealousy. Doumeki Shizuka had never experienced emotions as he had felt within that dream. He was no longer considered young as a hunter, not with how early his kind died. It was wholly unfair such pleasant feelings were denied him all his life. Never had he felt so loved, so safe, so secure in the knowledge that he would never have to endure another broken bone, another dead comrade, _another_ child lost to the witches' magic.

The foundations of his beliefs had been thoroughly rattled to the core and forced to shift. There had to be a better way to go about defending people from the witches that plagued their world without so many cold sacrifices demanded of the men that were forced to become hunters and the women that were forced to endure them.

Doumeki decided that if he wanted to determine if anything in his dream had been real, he should perhaps start by checking some facts. In order to do that, he'd have to head to the archives and start reading.

He grabbed a quick meal that he didn't taste after his bath and headed straight to the archive building. He would see just how much of Haruka's tale matched up with written accounts. First, he looked up his grandfather's service record. It was a very thick tome that was covered in dust. Very few people visited the archives, especially the section of deceased hunters. Once the hunter in question was dead there was no need to update the archived information.

Haruka _had_ been very decorated. He'd received nearly every possible honor a hunter could, with the exception of being asked to formally join the council itself. Most of the awards were for bravery in combat. As a captain, commander, then general, he'd nearly sacrificed himself many times over to save countless lives.

The captain found record of the massacre of his grandfather's last two missions. The raid on the southern farmlands had killed many people, both hunter and civilian. It appeared that even General Ashura had died on that mission.

The final record merely stated 'MIA – Assumed Deceased.,' two days after his final mission. So. The council claimed no knowledge of the kidnapping ever happening. Doumeki's own memory lined up with what Haruka's dream had shown him. The record was falsified.

With a determination he'd never had before Doumeki poured through the rest of the archives of his ancestors. Tome after tome he read through. He forgot to eat as the sun set low on the horizon and he gathered everything he was reading.

Doumeki hunters did _not_ go 'missing in action.' There were only eight other instances of Doumeki hunters that had gone 'MIA – Assumed Deceased.' This was a significant finding, as there had been nearly hundreds of Doumeki hunters throughout the years. Shizuka cross-checked other corresponding information surrounding them.

All of them were older – in their late twenties to early forties. All of them had married and had children. All of them were also highly decorated – commanders or higher. _One_ had even been a member of the Hunter's Council.

There were gaps of several years between them. The smallest was roughly thirty five years – the longest was over a hundred and fifty.

The records went back seven hundred years – as long as his family had been hunters.

His mind reeled at the number. _Seven hundred years ago... my family became hunters because one of their sons had been stolen by a witch._ That was the story that was passed down to him from his father. Seven hundred years ago, Watanuki had used a scrying pool to determine where his Intended would be found.

The thought that everything was true stung more than he thought it would. _Were they spared a painful death as well? Did they ask to be taken? Did any of them fight? _

Haruka could still talk on his final day of life and felt no pain. Commander Sakurazuka had told him explicitly that a hunter that was dying from heart attack could no longer speak, eat, or scream. He could only suffer in complete silence. _Had that been all because of the Traveler's magic?_

He did not know what to think anymore. The answers that he sought did not make anything clearer.

Even if he wanted to, even if he _could_ entertain the idea of going with Watanuki and forsaking everything he'd ever worked for, what would happen to those he left behind? What would happen to that girl he was supposed to marry? What would happen to his parents? His cousins and uncles in the surrounding villages? Would Watanuki steal him away quietly, so no one was really any wiser? Or would he decide to make his move in plain view of Doumeki's fellow hunters? The ramifications of the unpredictable man's decisions could be detrimental if he chose wrong.

The captain pushed all of the tomes back on their respective shelves and slowly made his way out of the dusty old building. When he made it back to the barracks it was the witching hour and he could do nothing more than pass out from exhaustion on his bunk.

. . . . . . . .

It was almost a week since his dream. Doumeki had finally managed to section off Haruka's memories from his own, though at times he found himself forced to stop before he said something he wasn't supposed to know. He was acting more distant than was normal even for him, due to the mental battles he faced with himself every day.

One afternoon found him as he finished cleaning his armor and weapons for the day. His duty roster allowed him to get off early and his family had demanded his presence at supper that evening.

Just as he was putting his sword away he felt a familiar aura come up behind him. He ignored it as he grabbed his bow and began to wrap it up for transportation.

"Captain?"

Doumeki forced himself not to sigh. "Sumeragi," he replied tonelessly. He swung his bow over his shoulder and turned around to address the, as usual, concerned ensign. Doumeki raised one handsome eyebrow with impatience as his ensign stood in front of him. Subaru shifted from foot to foot.

"Are you all right?"

For all his frustrations, Doumeki was exceedingly skilled at not displaying anything. "I'm fine. Was there something you needed?"

Subaru bit his lower lip. "The whole barracks is worried about you, Captain. I'm worried. You've been acting strange lately. No one has seen you use your bow since the training incident." Subaru paused and placed a hand on Doumeki's arm and he squeezed. "I'm just-"

"If you'll excuse me, _ensign._ I have some family obligations to attend to this evening." The captain shook his arm free of the grasp on it.

Subaru's cheeks flushed at the reminder of his station, but his eyes hardened with a stubborn determination. "Yes, Sir."

Doumeki knew he would continue to receive questions from his – bafflingly concerned – ensign. Subaru seemed to have a keen interest in his welfare. Shizuka was growing concerned that the attention was not entirely innocent.

No one spoke of trysts between hunters. It wasn't supposed to happen, and it was punished when it became known to the council, but with how often hunters spent away from their 'families,' it occurred more often than anyone wanted to admit. When he'd first been promoted to captain and been assigned to one of Sakurazuka's divisions, he'd been pulled aside and told to keep his mouth firmly shut about any 'dalliances' he might see if he wanted his men to remain loyal to him. He was _highly_ encouraged to not engage in any himself unless the hunter was of equal rank.

The whole idea was only made creepy because of the way Seiichiro had explained everything with unhidden lust in his eyes, though Doumeki had never been able to pinpoint where that lust had been targeted. No advances had been made towards him by anyone under his command, or his commander for that matter, until now. At least, if that was indeed what Subaru was quietly wanting. Once again he felt a stab of anger and hatred towards the way his world was structured.

He left the barracks without a backward glance but he could feel Subaru's eyes on him until he was out of sight.

It was a quick walk to the family home. They'd always lived close to a hunter's barracks, considering the long family history in the order. While he probably didn't need his bow with him it was a long ingrained habit that had him keep it on his shoulder. A witch could strike anywhere and he never wanted to be unprepared.

Granted, he didn't want to _use_ it in front of everyone. One more test revealed his powers had only increased. He hadn't engaged anyone in a fight, for training or otherwise. His heart twinged in his chest as he thought about how the council would find out sooner or later. The pain reminded him of Haruka's failing heart and he wondered if he could be suffering from the same affliction already.

His father greeted him at the front door. "Shizuka," Kino said warmly.

It had been a while since he'd seen his father. While his last memory of his father was admittedly Haruka's, it was still the first image that came to mind.

His father had not aged well. Already at thirty nine years old his hair was graying and his face crinkled with wrinkles and crows feet as he smiled. Doumeki thought it odd how his grandfather had aged better despite a harder life. "Hello, father."

"Come inside. Your mother is just about to finish cooking dinner. You should be pleased with who is our guest tonight."

A lesser man would have groaned. Of course. A guest. Why else would he be wanted home? He only had to wait the time it took to remove his shoes at the door and enter the sitting room to see who it was.

Kunogi Himawari smiled at him brightly as he made his way into the room.

"Kunogi," he said respectfully as he set his bow down against a far wall.

The girl stood up and walked up to him. Her smile did not reach her eyes. "Hello... Shizuka." He was ever so grateful when it sounded like she was uncomfortable saying his given name. "Please accept this gift I offer you." She held out her hands to reveal a white cloth with yellow embroidered trim.

Doumeki took it and examined it. Of course, it was a bride's handkerchief. Inside were two gold rings, unadorned with gems or filigree. A standard wedding ring set for a hunter and bride to be.

She was expected to give this to him. Gods, it was _that_ dinner they were having that night. Shizuka resisted the urge to pinch his nose and sigh. _The stupid wedding is only three weeks away. Gods help me..._ That night was going to be a nightmare to get through.

His father invited the both of them to sit back down and indulge in a warm cup of sake. Shizuka did so only to take his mind off the awful meal that was to come. Himawari sat herself a respectable distance away from him and tucked her legs under herself, her head down and hands on her lap. She was the picture of manners and respect. Doumeki felt a little pity for her, and perhaps some empathy. She was stuck like him playing out this charade of a life that had been chosen for them.

"Dinner is ready," his mother said from the doorway.

The three of them stood up and made their way into the dining room.

Partway through the meal his mother started in. "Shizuka, dear, you haven't said anything all meal." She smiled. "You must be anxious. Don't worry. Your wedding will be lovely, your family will make sure of that."

Doumeki swallowed the bite of rice in his mouth loudly.

"Sweet Himawari already has her dress, and oh is it_ lovely!_ I am so happy my son is marrying such a beautiful young girl as you, Himawari."

The brown haired girl lowered her head and blushed. Shizuka thought she looked uncomfortable as she squeezed her hands in her lap. "You are too kind, Miss Doumeki."

"Please, Himawari, just Yakani! You'll be my daughter-in-law in a few short weeks!"

The girl smiled her not quite smile.

Shizuka grunted and set his utensils down. "How's your heart, father?"

The silence that settled over the room as palpable. It was a full minute of awkward stares before someone finally spoke.

"_Shizuka,_" Yakani bit out harshly.

Kino raised one of his hands. "It's all right, Yakani."

"But in front of Himawari-!"

"She'll find out eventually." Kino turned his eyes to his son. "Who told you?"

"Commander Sakurazuka."

Doumeki Kino sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to hear it from him."

"Well," Shizuka pressed. "How is it?"

Yakani's face was red but she dared not say any more after her husband's acceptance of the conversation. Kino rubbed at his chest. "It's... not well."

_Him too. My father will..._ He couldn't finish the thought.

"Miss Doumeki...?" Kunogi whispered worriedly.

Shizuka stood up abruptly and left the dining room. He heard his father's rough voice begin explaining the grizzly details of an old hunter's death to the ignorant girl at the table. Shizuka heard her gasp as he rounded a corner and headed to the room that was designated as his while he stayed at the family home.

He sat down and and closed his eyes and as he did Kimihiro's blue eyes were all he could see. He suddenly felt trapped by everything. Trapped by the Hunter's Council, trapped by his family and his arranged marriage, trapped by his vicious commander and his too-concerned ensign and the inevitable doom of every hunter not lucky enough to die on the battle field.

His door slid open and Shizuka looked up. He was too late to hide that he had been holding his head in his hands and his breath was not as steady as it was supposed to be.

Kunogi closed the door quietly but did not venture further into the room. "Your father explained the... the Hunter's Heart Attack."

Doumeki did not look at her.

She bit her lip. "I'm sorry for coming in here. Your mother insisted that I-" she paused as there was a hitch in her throat. "That I console you. I'm sorry for intruding. I can slip out of your window if you'd like me gone right now."

"Kunogi." He finally lifted his head to look at her. "Do you want to marry me?"

Himawari lowered her head. "No, yes... I have nothing left in this world. No one outside of the hunters will go near me. I will do as I'm told... because I have nothing left to do. No one else will have me."

It was a story he'd been expecting. Guilt gnawed at him ruthlessly. Doumeki stood up and walked up to her. Perhaps... he could convince himself he could want this. Perhaps he could use the image of her fate as mental fuel to fight Watanuki's advances.

Doumeki reached her, lifted her face, and kissed her.

A breath later and he was falling, asleep before he even hit the floor. Impossible colors danced before his closed eyelids before he could open them again. When he found himself suddenly able to breathe again he looked up from his position on the ground and saw none other but the Traveler leaning over him.

Watanuki's eyes glowed with the light that entered them. The scenery around them was dark like a moonless night, but strings of power glowed around him, thin and red and bright. The hunter's heart began to beat loudly.

"A dream?" Doumeki questioned.

"A dream," Watanuki confirmed. His eyes narrowed. "Shizuka. Did you think I'd let you try something so... underhanded?"

Doumeki glared back. "Release me from this dream."

Watanuki raised one hand and grasped at the strings around him. He made a fist around the lines of power and tugged.

The captain felt his heart pulled at in a new and terrifying way. He looked down at himself and saw the same strings of power were wrapped around him as well. The question was plain in his features.

"It's our red string of fate, Shizuka. You see the bindings that hold us together. If you cut these threads, you will die." Watanuki grinned and grabbed one of the strings between his teeth. He tugged again, and Shizuka groaned at the sensations and felt his hands reach out and squeeze at the scantily clad hips that straddled him. "Don't fight me so, my Intended. You know the truth of it all now. What is left for you there in your current life?"

"I _can't,_" Shizuka stressed. "That girl... my parents... the Hunter's Council will-"

Kimihiro shook his head ruefully. "Ever the selfless hunter." He leaned down, the damnable red string still held tightly in his hand, and his smell invaded Shizuka's senses. His grandfather's memories washed up again and he remembered the impossible happiness and peace Kimihiro had given him.

Shizuka did not think he could fight much longer.

"You wonder about all of them. About your awful commander. You wonder about your family's reputation. About cute, silly Subaru even." Watanuki tugged the neck of the kimono Shizuka wore out of the way and sucked on the mark.

Pleasure shot through his system. Real and encompassing and nothing as faded as dream-memories. Shizuka cried out without being able to stop himself.

"They all die in the end, Shizuka. Everyone dies. No matter what you still cling to, I will not let you die as well." Kimihiro held the hunter's head very still between his hands and looked him directly in the eyes. "You don't _know_ the agony of an eternity alone. I will not... will _not_ wait any longer for that possibility to occur. I will save who I can but I will _not sacrifice you._"

The intensity of those eyes and the husky voice forced the breath from Shizuka's lungs. "I-"

Kimihiro kissed him again. Any train of thought the hunter may have developed dissipated around those lips and the hands that started to undress him. "Ki...Kimihiro," Shizuka gasped loudly when wet heat hit the seal on his shoulder again.

"Shizuka," Kimihiro ground their hips together and the hunter hissed at the friction. "This mark... this seal. It _sings_ to me, Shizuka. Unlike all the others it demands I finish the bond with you. Only you have retained full lucidity. Only you have been able to fight."

The hunter closed his eyes as he realized they were naked.

"You make everything within me _scream_ for you, my hunter. You will be mine."

One hand grabbed his throbbing erection and pumped, teeth bit down on his seal, and Shizuka cried out from the bright hot fiery heat that washed through him. His toes dug into the ground beneath him and he arched up into the Traveler's touch. He was shaking and gasping and grabbing the body above him and trying to pull it closer.

They were kissing again, primal and hard with teeth and hands pulling at hair and nails digging into sweaty skin.

Hands pushed his legs apart and he was too stupid with hormones to fight. Half lidded eyes looked into his as his face was roughly grabbed to hold it in place. Kimihiro grinned, then thrust roughly inside of him but before he could cry out in shock and scream the other man's name, Kimihiro whispered "Wake up, Shizuka."

He was in a cold sweat on his bed, his sheets sticky and his heart racing.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Wake up, Shizuka."_

Doumeki lay panting in his bed as though he'd been drowning. His body shuddered and his skin prickled with goosebumps and shivers. He felt too hot, too sticky, too wet, and more sexually frustrated than he'd ever felt in his life.

Kimihiro had left him completely unsatisfied and his anatomy protested loudly and painfully at the loss. He wanted so badly to ignore the proof that he'd reacted in such a way, but he'd always been bad at lying to himself. His twitching, throbbing erection and painfully sore bottom were too much proof that what had happened in his dream had been real, as well as his responses. His wounded pride was an all too real sting as well.

Doumeki realized that, should the Traveler make even one more attempt, he couldn't fight any more. It would be so _easy_ to give in, allow the man to give him anything he wanted, remove him from the misery of this world, _please_ him in any way he could...

The captain grunted and rolled out of his bed. He forced his thoughts to clear as he headed straight to the baths for a cold wash up. It would have been nice to simply dunk his whole body in a giant tub of ice water. He felt like he had a fever.

Still though...Himawari... his parents... there were too many loose ends to tie up and he didn't have the ability to shelter these people from the far reaching, oppressive thumb of the Hunter's Council.

Simply put, he didn't know _what_ he was going to do, but either way he was either going to be dead or insane within the week. It was a chilling thought.

. . . . . . .

Doumeki left the stables and headed towards the barracks. He'd just finished putting his horse back for the night from his recent trip back from the 6th Division's barracks in the neighboring village and he wanted nothing more than to pass out and go to sleep. He was grateful that he'd been able to complete the little side job that General Fuuma had given him early. He wasn't due back home until midday.

It had been three days since Watanuki had invaded his dreams, and two nights of a repeating scene when he slept of the event that had occurred between them in the dreamscape. The captain was tired of waking up unsatisfied, stiff, and angry at himself for lacking the ability to control his stupid body.

The buildings were quiet when he entered the main hall and headed towards the kitchen. His stomach rumbled a little and he really wanted a small cut of cheese instead of the remainder of the rations in his pack. When he made it into the mess hall he nicked the nearest oil lamp off a hook on the wall and took it with him for added light. Even though it was a full moon outside the inside of the building was still mostly dark and there was no guarantee that there would be light in the kitchens once he made it in there.

As he passed through the door into the hallway that led to the food stores he heard muffled voices coming from further on. He furrowed his brow a little as he continued on. New recruits sneaking food, perhaps? Or some higher ranked hunters that couldn't get any sleep? He wasn't looking forward to having to deal out appropriate punishments if it was the former, he just wanted food then _bed._

As soon as he entered the kitchen the scene became all too clear.

Commander Sakurazuka was leaning menacingly over Ensign Sumeragi, who he had pinned to one of the cutting counters. One of Seiichiro's hands held Subaru's chin in a rough hold while the other was somewhere lower where Doumeki couldn't see.

Subaru looked like a cornered rabbit. His eyes were wide, his mouth agape, and the color was drained from his face. Both him and his captor turned at the noise of his boots hitting the wood floor as he entered the kitchen.

Captain Doumeki raised one handsome eyebrow. "Commander," he stated evenly.

Subaru used the distraction to jerk away from the loosened hold on him and dashed towards the protective cover of his captain.

If looks could kill Seiichiro would have sent Doumeki to the underworld six times over. "Captain. You're back early," he growled.

"Yes," he responded simply. He ignored it when Subaru clutched his arm with trembling hands.

"After a midnight snack?"

He rattled his pack to highlight its empty contents. "I ran out of rations. I'm hungry."

Seiichiro dismissed him with a snort. He and his insufferable captain had been dancing around barely concealed loathing for the better part of a year. Doumeki had an infuriating habit of both thumbing his nose at his commander's authority while at the same time not doing anything note-worthy or punishable. It was damned vexing, and the scene he'd walked in on was just one of numerous examples. Sakurazuka couldn't punish Doumeki for interrupting him without raising a few eyebrows at the council.

Still though. That thrice-damned bored look gazing apathetically back at him. Where Seiichiro's glare said '_I hate you and I want you dead'_ Doumeki's look merely seemed to say '_yeah, whatever.'_ The commander had never been able to influence his captain in any way.

He pushed Doumeki out of his mind for the moment. Instead, he turned his eyes back to the younger boy and a shadow of his previous smile returned. Subaru shook even more. "I want that report on my desk tomorrow morning, ensign."

"Y-yes, Sir," Subaru whispered.

The commander swept passed them and left without another word.

Doumeki shook the grip off his arm and headed towards the cheese. Seiichiro's intentions were painfully clear now. Was _this_ why Subaru was always near him? Because of the commander? "How long has he been bothering you?" he asked his ensign.

Subaru sat down on one of the stools available. "N-not long. A couple of weeks, really. It's gotten worse, though, the past few days."

Short of killing the commander, Doumeki didn't think he could protect Subaru either.

He knew it with a clear truth now – he hated this world.

Doumeki sighed as he wrapped up his new slice of cheese in a cloth. "Try to stay out of his way for a while. I'll see how much I can keep him busy."

Sumeragi lowered his head, his cheeks betraying only a little of his blush in the pale lamp light. "Thank you, captain."

Just as Doumeki lifted the handle of his borrowed lamp and Subaru stood up Doumeki's hand involuntarily dropped his cheese and the lamp clattered back to the table. His fingers flew up to cover the suddenly burning hot seal on his neck. The heat was so intense he almost thought he could hear his skin sizzling and he grimaced.

Subaru was in front of him then and his hands were back on Doumeki's arms. "What's wrong?"

Shizuka's bones vibrated with a familiar thrumming song, so deep inside of his body it filled his ear drums and slipped into his heart beat. He froze as the... it was calling... _he _was calling...

The warning bells of the village wailed in panicked alarm. When Doumeki could move his arms again the entire division was scrambling out of bed and he could hear feet running towards the weapons rooms.

It was _the_ warning bells. Witches or spirits of some sort were trying to break through the village's perimeter walls. Except he didn't think it was just witches. Kimihiro was calling to him. The immortal man was coming to claim what was his.

Feet were running and hunters were crawling out of their bunks while pulling on their clothes and the captain didn't even bother to pick anything up as he ran to the first place he thought about.

Himawari was staying at his parents' home. He was still fully dressed, fully armored, and fully equipped, so there was nothing he needed to grab to prepare for anything. After all, if Kimihiro was making his appearance loud and public, there was every chance that there were more witches after him.

The lights were on in his family's dwelling as he ran down the street and skidded to a halt at the front door. He almost burst through but the entryway opened and there stood the very person that he was looking for.

She was wearing just a sleeping robe and her hair was uncharacteristically down, but her eyes were wide awake. "Shizuka!" She said with surprise at seeing him. "What-"

"Run," he bade her. "If you have somewhere to go that is safe, somewhere the council won't look for you for a while, _run!_"

Kunogi's fingers dug into the folds of her robes tightly. "What? Why?"

"Because I'll either be dead... or gone by the time the night is over. Get to safety. Take my horse. He's in the last stall in the stables. Everyone else is already out."

"But-"

"Go!" He ordered her, then ran towards the village's main entrance.

Kunogi's eyes watered but she let no tears fall. She didn't waste any time in heeding Doumeki's warning. Within five minutes she was fully dressed and pulling a tired black horse out of his stall and towards the village's back exit.

Every hunter in the village poured outside of the exterior walls and began to line up around the perimeter. Doumeki drew his bow and an arrow out of his quiver as he tried to mentally prepare for what was to come.

He was just as shocked as everyone else to see a miasma of witches, bodies, corpses and smokey spirits rapidly heading their way.

Their village was not very large, so there were only twenty five hunters to fight what was heading towards them. Doumeki was grateful that his father was currently away. He and Sakurazuka were the only ones in charge. While General Monou was Sakurazuka's direct superior he was still a general, which meant he took care of more things directly with the council and was rarely at the barracks itself.

It was going to be a slaughter.

A few yelled orders from the commander and the hunters started successfully executing one of their more potent tactical formations.

Doumeki stood back with the archers and began to fire. He ignored any gasps of surprise there might have been as the miasma was suddenly rocked with unnatural explosions from his arrows – he'd deal with the accusations and consequences later.

The windy, swirling, chaotic plumes of entities and witches surrounded them. Clouds of dark purple smoke whipped around in powerful winds. Visibility was diminished and screaming was everywhere.

Doumeki released an arrow into the tempest. One explosion later and he had to step back as the body of a witch nearly landed on him. _Too close, they're too close for me to fight like this..._

Someone was laughing to his left. Doumeki could not see who right away, but he knew it was a voice he'd never heard before.

A pale face emerged from the darkness to reveal blond, fluffy windswept hair. Bright, glacial blue eyes danced in mirth. The man, for it was now that he could see it was a thin, tall man that walked up to him, was wearing an ornate light blue kimono that was covered in white crescent moons.

That smile was very familiar, though. Doumeki's eyes widened in alarm and he took a step back. It looked like – and felt like – another Traveler.

"Want to see something amazing?" The pretty man asked.

Doumeki did not answer, but that did not deter the person in front of him. The unnamed Traveler lifted one of his thin arms and stretched his fingers out, his palm towards the ground. His hair started to fly up instead of into his face when a magical circle lit up underneath of him. Pure, raw power spread out from him like a tsunami. It washed up against the captain and circled him, squeezed him, held his arms down and locked his knees.

The screaming intensified as the nebulous cloud of spirits was washed away. The sound of bodies thumping to the ground was so frequent it could have been rain.

When the area cleared, the Traveler stood in front of the hunters with a satisfied grin. Doumeki looked around and saw that everyone was bound as he was, but these bonds were not invisible. Light blue cords chirped like lightning around tightened wrists. Threads wrapped around chests and shoulders and dug into the ground like tethers. Everyone twitched and writhed, many snarled or glared.

"Who are you?" Sakurazuka commanded from next to him. It seemed fate had deigned to place his trapped form within an arm's reach of Doumeki.

Indeed, and where was Kimihiro?

The stunning man smiled. From behind him a person stepped out as though from thin air. He had to have, for his was easily a full head taller than the Traveler with broader shoulders and a stern yet blank face. His eyes were a fierce cinnamon red, his hair was jet black, his complexion dark. It would not have been possible for him to have stood behind this man and not be seen.

The man leaned against this new person's chest and rested one hand along the man's neck. "Just a Traveler," was his cheeky response to the commander. His eyes slid away from Sakurazuka and looked at Doumeki. "My... Kimihiro said you were handsome, but he didn't say you were _this_ handsome!"

Doumeki frowned as every eye turned to him. Seiichiro scowled. "_Traitor!_" He snarled and twisted his hands in a desperate attempt to move. "I'll have you hanged!"

"Who are you?" Doumeki chose to ignore the very real threat. A hand ghosted across his cheek, then lifted his chin.

"Fai. Kimihiro asked me to keep you safe for a moment." His smile widened, which caused his eyes to crinkle. "But don't worry, hunter. He will be here soon."

Doumeki's memory sparked and he remembered this name whispered into his grandfather's ear during the dream. The one who'd had a twin that had been too late for his Intended.

"Leave him alone!" Subaru screamed out from a few feat away.

"Damn you, Doumeki! You betrayed the order for some _witch?_" Sakurazuka spat at him.

Fai sighed and lifted a dramatic hand to his forehead. "Kurogane, please make that person quiet. He's so noisy!" He pointed one finger at the commander.

The broad shouldered man stepped away from the Traveler and drew a sword that had been strapped to his waist.

Every hunter around them shouted and yelled and threatened that if he killed Sakurazuka he'd be pay for it dearly. Kurogane didn't even spare the men a glance as he advanced on the enraged commander. He lifted his sword in one move, then struck the pommel of the handle against Seiichiro's temple in the next.

Sakurazuka Seiichiro went limp in his binding. Blood ran down his head and dripped off his chin.

Doumeki released a breath and addressed Fai. "Where's Kimihiro?"

. . . . . . . . . .

Kunogi cried out as something cold and slimy whipped past her neck and screeched in her ear. She clutched the reins in her hand tighter and urged Doumeki's horse to run faster. She hadn't left the village vast enough because a few straggling spirits had started to pursue her.

Tears leaked out of her eyes. She scrubbed her face roughly and leaned over the saddle, trying to mesh her body to that of the horse as much as she could. She didn't know if she would survive. If the spirits didn't rip her soul out the Hunter's Council would find her soon enough.

Whatever trouble her betrothed was in... it must have been terrible. For an unknown person like her that was cursed with deadly bad luck it wouldn't take much for the harsher members of the council to pin some sort of blame on her.

In any bad event, there always had to be a scapegoat for the council to lay the blame, even if their chosen target was entirely innocent.

Her horse screamed, and it was the most terrible sound she'd ever heard. Panic tightened her throat and made it difficult to breathe. Her heart pounded in her ears and her vision narrowed to the ground in front of her. The creature shook underneath of her like a being possessed. The beast was stumbling, tripping, then falling, and she was thrown from the saddle to slide along the ground.

The poor beast had stepped into a snake or gopher hole. It hadn't been able to pull free and the leg snapped in two. Bone was visible and muscle and sinews quivered as blood squirted everywhere. Himawari covered her ears as the horse continued to scream and neigh in agony. _Bad luck, more bad luck... _

Bright hot heat, then icy freezing cold surrounded her and washed through her. Himawari gasped at the onslaught and blinked. When she could focus again, the horse was silent, the spirits were gone, and there was someone standing above her.

The man wore an elegant, dramatic, sweeping red and purple kimono covered in jewels. He could have been a lord from forgotten and resplendent age. He smiled at her and extended his hand. "Kunogi Himawari. My Shizuka asked that you be saved from this world. I can offer you safe harbor, but there is a price to be paid."

She was captivated by his deep blue eyes and his sweet voice. "Price?"

"Yes," he grinned. "A price. Your price is you may never return to this world. You may never again see anyone from here that you have known, that you care for, and you will be forgotten here. Can you accept this price, sunflower?"

Himawari soaked in what he had to say. She nodded. The hand she reached up to put in his did not tremble even once.

. . . . . . . .

Fai laughed and backed up into Kurogane's chest. Strong arms circled around his waist. "Where is he? He's on his way. In fact..."

"Wait, Kurogane?" One of the hunters asked. "As in _General_ Kurogane? It can't be! He disappeared over fifty years ago!"

Fai giggled gleefully and turned his head to look up at the man holding him. "Do you hear that, Kuro-puu? Someone still remembers you!"

Dark red eyes narrowed. "Hn."

The earth heaved and quavered underneath of their feet. The reality of the sky stretched out and poured down towards the ground like a raindrop magnified by a thousand times. Pressure settled around the hunters and made their ears pop as the colors that dropped from the sky swirled and pealed away like a flower's peddles.

A large puff of air then Kimihiro was there, in all his venerable and exquisite glory. The diagrammed circle of magic and power pulsated beneath his feet. The light caused his eyes to glow, a living blue sea that stared at him with clear demand. He reached his hand out and the bindings around Doumeki went away.

"Come to me, Shizuka. I can wait no longer."

The song was back again inside of him. Suddenly it was like he wore blinders and the only thing in his vision, in his mind, was Kimihiro's eyes. He could feel his heart beat again, then he thought that _this_ was what it felt like to be alive and not detached from the world, from the life he was supposed to be living.

Doumeki stood up, deaf to Ensign Subaru's pleas for him to not listen to what the Traveler was saying.

He stepped closer. Kimihiro smiled at him and still Doumeki could hear nothing of the hunters that lay bound on the ground. It felt like it took a lifetime to reach him, but finally with one last step Shizuka was in front of the most beautiful person he would ever see.

When Kimihiro cupped his face his knees nearly collapsed. The Traveler seized his hunter around the shoulders and Shizuka clung to him. He dug his face into the space between Watanuki's neck and shoulder and breathed deeply.

Subaru could only watch horrified as the tempest winds picked up again and Shizuka's form began to fade along with Kimihiro and the other pair that stood near them. The last thing he could see was the achingly gorgeous eyes of Kimihiro looking at him directly as he smiled and wrapped his arms tighter still around Doumeki.

The bonds vanished like fog on a warm August morning and the clearing was void of Captain Doumeki and the ones that took him. Subaru bellowed, screeched, and slammed his fists into the dirt at his knees.


	7. Chapter 7

Shizuka did not remember how he came to be where they were, or how long it had taken for it to happen. All he knew was that they were naked, they were kissing and touching and grabbing, and he was desperate to feel himself enter the exquisite body that was sucking, licking, and tasting him.

His grandfather's far away memory proved itself to be correct – Kimihiro's tongue inside of his mouth was like inhaling pure opium. He could not think clearly with reason or restraint. Desire as he'd never endured before caused him to ache with want. When that hot mouth moved to the seal on his neck and sucked hard enough to leave a reddish bruise the spike of pleasure and fireworks of white behind his closed eyelids forced his body to shake and a mantra of the Traveler's name tumbled endlessly from his lips.

He wanted – needed – could not last a _moment longer_ – without being inside of this man. With a great struggle against his mostly unresponsive body he sat up and tried to roll Kimihiro to the ground.

The one he wanted to make love to pulled his mouth away with a gasp. "No...Shizuka. Not yet."

Doumeki tried to growl in frustration, but it came out as a rather desperate moan. "I can't wait."

Kimihiro pushed Shizuka back to the floor and pulled the hunter's wrists above his head. "You must, just for a little while." His gasps of breath were shallow as he controlled his immediate want. "We must complete the ceremony properly."

"...?" He could not voice his question out loud, not with the way Kimihiro ground their groins together at that moment and the friction forced the words from his mind.

Thumbs pressed purposefully down on Doumeki's restrained wrists. He felt the hum of magic against his skin before the sharp end of what felt like a fiery hot needle broke through the appendage and all the way down to the floor. Doumeki grunted and gasped at the pain. "Kimihiro..." he opened his eyes and looked up at his left wrist.

A soft beam of light had penetrated his arm and pierced the wood floor beneath him. His blood seeped out slowly, sluggishly, and spread out along dark lines of wood ingrained into the floor. He realized belatedly there were patterns and glyphs beneath him.

His blood lit up the circle of power with a dark purple-red luminance. The designs were exactly what had shown up below Watanuki whenever he traveled from world to world.

Hands secured by his magic, Kimihiro moved his fingers to frame his Intended's face and brought their eyes together, nose to nose. They shared breath as they both continued to breathe heavily. "Shizuka, my Intended, I am sorry..."

Doumeki's heart muscles felt tight in his chest. "What?"

"We must complete this bond. It cannot be stopped now that the ritual has begun. My love..." he pressed his mouth against Shizuka's again and sucked greedily on his lower lip before he continued. "You must pay a price to complete this. To remain with me forever there is something that I must take from you."

At that point, he really didn't care what Kimihiro took, just as long as he didn't have to _keep waiting!_ "Take it, whatever it is, just take it."

"I have to tell you the price first before I can accept your offer. Shizuka, in order to fully become mine, you must give up everything that has ever caused you pain. Every thought, emotion, memory, and object... you may never have it again."

"Everything..." Shizuka repeated. "My memories..."

"Yes. All of it. No pain may enter where I am about to take you."

He had to be free of _all _pain? Was such a request even possible?

Kimihiro's breath washed over his face and the man's irresistible scent filled his mind. Whatever it took... he was going to go mad if he had to wait any longer... "Take it."

Kimihiro smiled. "Done."

The Traveler moved his body, braced himself and suddenly Shizuka felt like his sex had been pressed inside of a furnace. Kimihiro screamed his name, magic and power washed up around him, and he was aware of no more.

. . . . . . . . .

When he opened his eyes the world that greeted him was alien and unfamiliar. Shizuka could not tell if he was laying down, standing up, flipped upside down, or floating in any particular direction. He was surrounded by warmth, as though the insubstantial world were a heated blanket wrapped securely around him.

A body was entangled with his. A name came to mind, and the knowledge that this was the person he was going to spend the rest of eternity with.

"Kimihiro," he intoned next to his lover's ear. The man stirred as he was roused from sleep.

"Hm," Watanuki's arms tightened around him. "Shizuka..."

Doumeki tried to dig through his memory but he could not find an answer for how he had come to be where he was, or why he was, or even _how_ he with this person, except that he was supposed to be. "Where are we?"

A kiss to the hunter's neck. "We are at the source of my powers. It is a world unto itself, inaccessible by all but me. You are the only other person in all the worlds that may enter this place with me. It was necessary to bring you here, to solidify our bond, and to make you immortal."

Doumeki ran his hands up and down the pale side exposed to him. "Kimihiro, I can't-"

"Remember," the Traveler finished for him.

"No," he confirmed softly. He grabbed Kimihiro's soft bottom and squeezed gently. "I know my name, and yours. I know that I belong here. My past... I had parents, I think. Relatives. Why can't I..."

"Too many memories from your past caused you pain. It was the price you paid to be with me. Those memories, and the heartache that they caused, will never return."

Doumeki brought his hand back towards his vision and looked at his palm. It was rough and calloused, his nails blunt and his fingers dotted with scars he did not remember receiving. "I used to fight."

Watanuki's legs wrapped around his hips tightly. Doumeki felt his body stir with arousal. "You still do," he answered back.

Shizuka moved his hand back down to pull those hips higher for a better position. "Good," he whispered, relieved at having a purpose. He kissed Watanuki's neck. "I want you."

Kimihiro laughed lightly, breathy. "Then take me, Shizuka. Make me yours again."

Doumeki pressed inside of his gorgeous lover's entrance. It was tight, burning hot, and he could not get enough of it.

. . . . . . . .

There was a great commotion of noise as Doumeki Kino rode up to the village's entrance. Pink dawn light was spilling across the forested countryside and over the village walls, so it was odd to hear so much noise at such an hour. He urged his horse to a faster gait and strained his vision to see a little better.

Hunters and common citizens alike were out in the streets in an agitated swarm. Kino rode into the crowd and watched as people started to part around him. He called to the hunter closest to him. "What's happened? Why is everyone out this morning?"

The man that turned to him was Commander Sakurazuka. There was dried blood crusted along the his right temple. His eyes snapped towards him, then narrowed in rage. "Him! Grab him!"

Flabbergasted wouldn't have been able to begin to cover Kino's shock as he was roughly grabbed from his horse and pulled to the ground. Every hunter in the village suddenly descended upon him and tied him down.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"A family of traitors!" Sakurazuka hissed. "Bring him to the town square!"

Kino winced as he was forced up and practically dragged to his destination. The space between his shoulders protested with a throbbing ache as his arms were manhandled and tugged in unnatural angles.

"What happened?" He tried again.

General Monou Fuuma and General Shiro Kamui were _both_ standing in the middle of the crowd. Monou was frowning, visibly upset, while General Shiro looked... sad?

Kino tried to swallow the lump in his throat. No matter what had actually happened or what he said, they were going to kill him. Sakurazuka forced him to his knees before the two generals. His hair was grabbed by a fist and his head was pulled up painfully and roughly to look at them. "What have I done?" He pleaded.

"Your son, Captain Doumeki Shizuka, willingly allowed himself to be enthralled by a witch last night and has given himself to the enemy," Monou told him.

"No," Kino's eyes widened in horror.

"Your family stands accused of aiding the Witch's Collective," Seiichiro bit out in his ear. "Do _you_ know where the cursed girl Kunogi Himawari is?"

Kunogi was gone too? Kino squeezed his eyes closed. Both his father... and his son... it couldn't be true. Not Shizuka, not _him!_

"Bring that woman over!" Fuuma commanded.

Kino strained his head to look behind him when he heard the voice of his wife yelp in pain. "No, Yakani!" He turned back to the generals. "Please, leave her alone! I beg you! Do what you want with me, anything, just don't hurt my wife!"

"Two generations of traitors," Sakurazuka spat at him. "The _both_ of you are implicated. The less you ask for, the better."

"Please," Kino asked, sobbed, as he heard a slap and his wife's voice cry out again. "Don't hurt her."

Someone, somehow, laughed, but it wasn't a cruel one. Kino gasped as a wave of power swept through the crowd and knocked everyone down. Citizens screamed in fear and hunters yelled in anger. Doumeki Kino managed to struggle back to his knees and gaze around.

Fuuma, Kamui, and Seiichiro looked ready to commit murder as a woman and man walked lazily up to the tied up Doumeki.

Kino did not recognize the bindings that had been placed on everyone. The threads of magic were pink, solid, and nearly hypnotizing in their glow.

The woman walked into his view was young and beautiful. The deep green eyes that smiled at him were framed by soft sandy brown hair. "Hello, Doumeki Kino." Her voice was sweeter than spring.

The man that stood closely next to her had sharp brown eyes that stared at all of the tied up people accusingly. Kino eyed the sword tied to the man's waist cautiously.

"You... are not a witch," General Shiro spoke loudly from his place on the ground.

The woman smiled wider in response to the question. "It is easy to see why you were made a general, Kamui. You are very astute." She turned to her silent companion. "Syaoran, please bring the woman over here."

Syaoran moved away from her and headed in Yakani's direction. Kino followed him with anxious eyes. "Please, please... don't hurt my wife. She hasn't done anything wrong."

Yakani shook and sobbed on the ground the closer the man came. Kino fought against the ropes that tied his hands in place when Syaoran drew his sword, but he merely cut the bindings on Yakani's feet, though he left her hands tied in place behind her back. He put his sword away then hoisted the woman to stand upright. He ignored the heckling he received as he walked through the crowd of bound people and back towards the mysterious woman.

"Who are you?" Yakani asked as she was released. She tumbled to her knees and pressed herself against her husband's side.

"She's just like the one that took your good for nothing son!" Sakurazuka informed her hatefully. "Just like the ones that captured all of us last night, and that enthralled man that just brought you over is no better than the one that gave me this head wound!"

The Traveler ignored the commander. "My name is Sakura." She moved, and as she did her delicate legs swept her long kimono out of the way. She placed herself in front of Kino and his shivering wife. "Kimihiro asked me to look out for you." Her delicate hand slid under his chin and lifted his gaze further. "Your son worried about you so. My brother wished to be here himself to help you, but he knew he would not be able to. I will bring you somewhere safe."

The woman moved away from him and walked away, towards the still bound generals. Syaroan's hand twitched impatiently against the hilt of his sword, as though someone could break out of the confines of the pink cords at any moment. Sakura looked in Fuuma's eyes meaningfully. "You hunters turn against your own kind so quickly. Truly, it is a shame."

Fuuma's dark red eyes narrowed. "We have our reasons."

"Do not be so arrogant as to believe your world is the only one plagued by the dark disease of corrupted magic. Witches, spirits, chaos and its ilk, is something we Travelers have been working against for eons. Your ways are archaic in comparison to what I have seen." She stepped away from Fuuma then pressed herself against Syaoran's side.

The tall man did not flinch, or really even seem to notice, as she slid her hands across his chest. "Darling, cut the ropes from Shizuka's parents."

He drew his sword as he stepped behind the couple. Kino embraced his wife as soon as the ropes fell away. They stood, and Yakani quietly cried into his side as he kissed her forehead.

"It's time to go." Sakura stretched out her hand and called forth a large circle of symbols that shimmered beneath them.

Someone was yelling angrily about them getting away but the sound of the wind that picked up and the magic that chattered noisily around them drowned out who it really was.

When the world righted itself again, Kino and Yakani found themselves at the top of a large hill. There wasn't a sign of civilization for miles. Rolling grasses filled with wildflowers swayed gently in a summer breeze. At the very top of the hill was a small cottage.

"You will be safe here," Sakura's voice captured their attention. "There is fresh water and enough resources to live off the land. Should you find need of anything else there is a small village three leagues to the west. No one will know who you are."

"My son," Yakani's voice quivered. "What's become of him?"

Sakura smiled at the other woman sweetly. "Shizuka is where he belongs now. You don't need to worry about him. He will live forever."

"Forever? How?" Kino asked. There was no magic he knew of that offered eternal life.

"Because he is my bother's Intended. It was fated for Kimihiro to find him."

"And Himawari?" Yakani asked.

Sakura leaned against Syaoran's chest, who in turn wrapped his arms around her waist. "The cursed girl has been brought somewhere safe as well. The people around her are not affected by her curse, so she is now free to be happy. You must forget about her."

Yakani sobbed openly in Kino's arms. "How did this happen?"

"Doumeki Kino," Sakura's voice demanded his attention. He looked up at her. "Kimihiro will find you in the near future. You will not be able to escape an old hunter's death, but my brother will ensure that you feel no pain. Know that he does not do this for you, but for Shizuka, and only for Shizuka."

Kino resented these people for meddling so, but still... he was grateful to be alive, and even more grateful that his wife was unharmed. It would have been far easier for them to ignore him, Yakani, and even poor Kunogi. "Thank you," he admitted, "even though I hate you, thank you. Just as long as my wife is safe."

Sakura did not seem to take offense. "You will understand more once you've died. Things always become clearer when you do not have mortality clouding your vision." She lifted her hand again and her pink and yellow circle of magic sprang to life beneath her feet. "Good luck, Yakani and Kino. You will not be seeing me or Syaoran again."

The air become blindingly hot, then freezing cold, then the Traveler and her Intended were gone.


	8. Chapter 8

Kunogi pulled the kettle off the fire with a towel and placed it on her serving tray. The salted fish was still steaming and her pot-stickers had just come out of the water, so everything was ready to serve. She hoped her cooking was acceptable enough for her new mistress. She desperately wanted to make use of herself.

The mysterious man that had found her and saved her from almost certain death had whisked her away to a foreign world. The house that she was living in was as ornate and beautiful as it was old and secretive. There was a mix of cultural designs that baffled her, for some she could place, some she could not, and some that she'd never been able to dream of before, yet all of the differences blended so well.

Buildings made of stone and steal towered far into the sky above her. Her host called them skyscrapers, and Himawari thought the name was very fitting. Truly those buildings scraped across the very sky itself. The men of this world must be brilliant, to defy the natural laws of the world and dare to climb so high.

The girl picked up her serving tray and made her way out of the incredibly advanced kitchen she now cooked in daily. A box (her mistress called it a refrigerator) that kept everything cold, even frozen! And no magic was involved at all? The appliances were awe inspiring! She smiled as she entered the main sitting room.

Her new host and mistress, Ichihara Yuuko, was lazily reclining on her settee. She had a bottle of sake in one hand and her smoke pipe in the other. She smiled and her eyes lit up when they landed on the tray of food that Himawari brought in for her. Her sluggish yet fluid movements could have been a good indication of being drunk, but for all of the alcohol she consumed Himawari had never seen the woman ever actually lose her ability to focus.

She _was_ a bear when she had one of her massive hangovers, though.

"Aaaah~! Sweet Himawari has brought us snacks! And oooh!" She paused to sniff the air. "Oolong tea. I haven't had oolong tea in decades!"

Kunogi grinned and set the tray down on the table in front of the ageless woman. "I will be right back with your beer, mistress."

Yuuko waved her pipe in the air in a dismissive way. The smoke trails curled around her wrists like a lover. "Hm, no, wine today I think. Chrysanthemum wine."

Himawari frowned and puzzled over her fingers. "I am sorry, mistress, I don't think we have any chrysanthemum wine. I've gone through and counted the entire stock of alcohol as you've asked, and I've not yet seen any."

Yuuko laughed, her mouth open wide. "Of course we don't have any! It should be here in..." Her eyes strayed to her shogi door. The dark red color of her mistress's eyes reminded Kunogi of dusty paprika.

The door slid open on its own to reveal two people on the other side. Kunogi's jaw opened wide at the sight of them, but she fought quickly to cover her shock. "M-Mr. Watanuki!"

And Shizuka-!

The beautiful man smiled at her exclamation. "Sunflower, I told you, just Kimihiro." He stepped through the doorway and as he did, his hands gently tugged at the silent Doumeki's arms.

So _this_ was what had happened to Doumeki. Kunogi had wondered and worried over his state ever since the night Watanuki saved her from her old world. The captain's last statements had seemed so... final. _I'll either be dead... or gone by the time the night is done. _Those words had spun around in her mind for days without leaving.

"I'm hungry," Doumeki looked at Kimihiro, though his expression as usual gave away nothing of what he was thinking.

Watanuki slipped a hand inside the opening of Doumeki's kimono while the other hand held up a large bottle for the man to see. "You're also insatiable. We'll be eating here."

"Kimihiro! Just in time!" Yuuko delighted. "My alcohol..." she held her hand out expectantly.

Watanuki set the bottle down on the table next to the tray of food. Kunogi suddenly realized why Yuuko had asked her to make so much extra. She knew that they would have guests. Watanuki sighed. "Hello, mother."

"So," Yuuko stood up and walked towards the pair. Her eyes were trained on Doumeki. "This is him."

Kimihiro giggled and slid an arm around the man's waist. The hunter's eyes followed Watanuki as he draped himself over his Intended. "Isn't he _gorgeous!_" He gushed. He swept his hand along Shizuka's jaw and cheek.

Yuuko looked thrilled and immensely pleased at the same time. "He looks just like the last one, Watanuki."

Kimihiro nestled himself in Doumeki's chest and wrapped the man's arms around himself. Still he smiled. "It couldn't be helped. It's that kind of lineage, I believe. He looks remarkably like his father as well."

"It is just as well. I was rather attached to Haruka myself. It will be pleasant to have the reminder of him in your dear Shizuka. The fates chose well for you."

Kimihiro laughed. "It was inevitable."

Himawari's ears buzzed with those words. _Fate _and _inevitable._ The Travelers spoke those words often. Clearly they were embroiled in magic and unbreakable rules she would never quite fathom.

Himawari stared at Shizuka, but the man never once looked her way. He barely acknowledged Yuuko's presence as well.

A door down the hallway opened. Himawari sat herself down next to her mistress as the master walked into the sitting room.

Yuuko raised a hand towards the man, who obligingly sunk down to the ground next to her. "Clow, dear, we have visitors today."

The gentle eyed man looked over to Kimihiro and Shizuka, who had just seated themselves at the other end of the table. He smiled at them. Kimihiro lifted a glass of wine he'd poured for himself. "Hello, father."

"Kimihiro," the reply was warm. Those endless lavender eyes stared at Shizuka without blinking. "You have completed the ritual?"

"Yes."

Clow closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Yuuko. "Then it is time to bring an end to this dream."

Kimihiro brushed his fingers over a certain spot on Shizuka's right shoulder. The hunter visibly shuddered at the touch. Goosebumps ran up his arms. "It has lasted long enough. I look forward to the end of it all." He pressed a kiss to the artery on Doumeki's neck. "Shizuka will prove to be a magnificent warrior in the days to come."

Himawari felt a chill fill her soul, but she did not know why.

. . . . . . . . . .

Subaru awoke with a start, his heart caught in his throat. The village warning bells were tolling again as a fresh attack washed up against the village's walls. He groaned as he pushed himself up from the cot he was on in the medic hall.

Ever since the night Captain Doumeki had been taken the witches had been attacking directly every single day. The Hunter's Council had been scrambling to find more men to send to them to bolster their numbers, but it didn't seem to be enough. Already they'd lost nearly two dozen hunters, and more were dying with each new day that dawned.

General Monou and General Shiro had been reassigned to the 4th Division's barracks indefinitely until the desperate situation came to a resolution.

Subaru held his chest lightly as he sat up fully. His fingers probed his bandages gingerly. He was still wounded from two days prior, but he had to help fight. He couldn't lay in bed any longer. When he noticed the triage nurse Kotori rush out of the room to attend to the first wave of wounded he grabbed his supplies and slipped out the back door.

The citizen's of the village hadn't come out of their homes since the attacks started. Windows were shuttered closed, doors barred and locked, and the streets were empty except for the few hunters that were rushing to the call of the warning bells.

The ensign made it up to the main gate and tried to make his way through the security team that was stationed there.

"Oi! Ensign, what do you think you're doing?" Yelled an incredulous voice from just behind his left shoulder. Subaru jumped at being caught. He turned around to see Commander Shiyu staring him down.

With his ridiculous height and massive muscles, the man was downright scary when he was mad. Subaru steeled himself anyway. "What does it look like? The bells are ringing!"

Shiyu pushed his way through the people between them and up to Subaru. "You're still injured! Get back to the medics!"

"I'm fine!" He assured. He drew his sword and started to make his way to the gate. "I'm going to help!"

"You're going to get yourself killed!" Shiyu Kusanagi corrected him.

Before the larger man could grab him Subaru slipped past the gate and headed into the fray.

There was more blood on the ground than the last time he was out here. Already there were more bodies on the ground as well as the fighting continued. Sumeragi pushes himself into the fight and did his best to ignore the twitches of pain his chest released on him with each blow.

He made his way further into the fight along with everyone else. It wasn't the first time in the few days since Doumeki's capture that he wished for the man's return. Subaru had to do his best to ignore the intense, painful grief he felt every time he thought about the state of his late captain.

To have lost someone like _him_ to a creature like... whatever he had called himself... Watanuki, _Travler._

_He's no better than the witches we fight,_ Subaru thought bitterly to himself.

A spirit swooped down from somewhere above his head and launched itself at a hunter that was to his right. Subaru heard the man scream as he fell into the bramble at the base of the treeline. The ensign cut down the obstacles in front of him and rushed to his fallen comrade. "Hold on!" He yelled back.

There was screeching, wailing, the sound of a body being drug along the earth... Subaru bounded through the brush and into the forest proper. He could see any sign of the missing hunter. He gasped for breath as he made his way through, feeling foolish for leaving the safety of other hunters nearby but desperate to save even one more person from dying that day.

There was a the sound of rushing air again, then a force of impact on his back that pushed him forward and onto the ground. Subaru yelled in surprise as he was suddenly dragged along the earth like an oversized rag doll. Frantic, he struggled for the protection bells strapped to his belt.

Before even one bell could be rung, there was suddenly a girl's face staring down at him. Her hair was long, silky, silvery and pale. Her eyes were bright blue and shimmered with light. She looked at him, her gaze intense, her lips parted.

Her pupils were dilated, seeing him without actually seeing. Her hands on his wrist were ice cold. They squeezed so tightly he started to lose feeling in his fingers. "Your name," she whispered huskily. "Please, help me. Tell me your name...!"

She was young for a witch.

Subaru struggled underneath of her and spat in her face. "Get off me, bitch!"

"Your name!" She said louder. "Tell it to me, _you must tell me!_"

He certainly wasn't dumb enough to reveal his whole name to a creature like her. He fought against her grip more, but her unnatural magic kept him firmly in place.

The girl sucked in a breath, and it seemed to drain the heat and warmth from around him. Subaru felt his limbs go deathly cold and his lungs found it difficult to suck in air. "No..." He reflected that he'd never seen one so young, beautiful as they were in the very beginning, so up close before.

The witch's eyes grew wide for a brief moment, but Subaru barely had time to see that before her body was flung off him. The force of the attack on her pushed her away, through the air, only for her to stop as she thudded into a tree. There was a bright yellow arrow, sparkling as though it were made from electricity, glowing angrily in her side.

Subaru felt life return to his body. He stood up quickly and found the source of the arrow. "C-Captain!"

The familiar look of steal was in Shizuka's eyes as he stared after where his arrow had gone. The man drew the string of his bow back as though to fire another arrow, but he wasn't holding anything to shoot. Subaru was perplexed by this until the ex-hunter's arm stretched all the way back, then a new arrow, gold and bright and sharp, materialized from thin air perfectly docked in his bow.

Kimihiro was standing behind him, one hand softly touching Shizuka's back. Even though it looked like the Traveler was allowing him to fight neither he nor Doumeki wore any armor. Doumeki wore a simple tan yukata, while Watanuki wore another one of his more elaborate kimonos that was covered with an ornate pattern of gold and green leaves.

Watanuki leaned toward's Doumeki's ear. "There, Shizuka. Up and to the left." Doumeki obeyed by moving his aim up towards the air and slightly left. "Do you see it?"

"Yes."

Kimihiro grinned. Subaru had no idea what they were talking about, because the space the two were suddenly staring at was most certainly empty.

"Now, just like I told you."

Shizuka's eyes narrowed, the arrow in his hand shimmered and hissed with power, and he released.

An explosion, the size of which he'd never seen, lit up the night sky. Subaru looked up in awe at the sight of a cloud of... what was it? A spirit? He caught the sight of a giant red eye wide in pain before it was eaten up by the power of Doumeki's arrow.

"What... How...?"

Watanuki laughed. Shizuka lowered his arms and relaxed his stance. "So, you've seen it now, Subaru? The source of the corrupted magic?"

"That thing-?"

"There's more than one," Kimihiro supplied. "Those that bleed chaos, they are the ones that create witches. The poor people that you kill are no more than possessed. Kill that which posses them, and you release them."

Speaking of possession, Subaru looked at Doumeki pleadingly. "Captain! Please, you have to come back! We're.. we're dying! They keep attacking!"

Shizuka didn't so much as look at him, or even seem to register that he heard him. Subaru came up close to him. "Captain Doumeki!" Still nothing? Subaru turned angry eyes to the other man. "What have you done to him?" He demanded. He reached to grab a fistful of that ridiculously lavish clothing.

Before his hands could touch anything fingers were roughly digging into his neck. Shizuka's powerful hand held him back and squeezed. Subaru choked as he tried to get air. His fists when to fight the grip on his neck instinctively.

"Don't touch him." The brassy gold eyes that bored into him were as icy as a glacier.

Kimihiro's hand ran up Doumeki's outstretched arm, fingers dancing. "Let him go now, Shizuka."

Subaru dropped to the ground in an heap. He coughed and tried to breathe properly again. "Doumeki, what... what's happened to you?" He stood up and stared at the man that nearly killed him.

Shizuka looked back to Kimihiro, his eyes searching. "...Do we know this person, Kimihiro?"

Watanuki laughed, even as Subaru's insides turned to lead. He draped himself over the ex-hunter. "Hmm... perhaps." He giggled again.

"You..." he couldn't even form the words properly. "You've... what have you... you've violated him!"

Watanuki slipped one feminine hand inside of Doumeki's yukata. "Violated?" He asked innocently.

Horrible visions of what this creature could have done to his captain taunted the ensign. "You have! You..." He couldn't even form his sentences, he was so angry. "How much damage have you done to him? How much, what have you done?"

"Nothing more than he asked of me." The hand slipped further inside.

"Stop touching him!"

Watanuki laughed again. "Oh, like this?" He pushed the clothing open just enough to reveal one of Doumeki's nipples. He pinched lightly. One of Shizuka's arms slid around Kimihiro's waist and pulled him closer.

Subaru felt the blood leave his face.

"Shizuka? How often do we have sex?"

Doumeki stared at the man in his arms. "Whenever I want," he said bluntly.

Subaru felt he might be sick. "Doumeki..."

Watanuki laughed with triumph. He winked at Subaru, then walked away from him without another word. Subaru could only look on in dumbfounded horror as the Traveler walked up to the body of the witch that had attacked him earlier.

The girl was gasping and shaking on the ground. The incorporeal arrow had long since disappeared, but her side was still open and bleeding freely. Watanuki leaned down next to her and pressed his hand over the wound. Within moments the bleeding had stopped.

"What's going on?" The girl asked. "What's happened?" Tears slipped down her cheeks. "I don't remember anything."

"Of course not," Kimihiro consoled her. "But don't worry. You have a brave hunter here to take you to safety." He stood up and stepped back into Shizuka's embrace.

The girl... was okay? Subaru didn't think it was possible to be released from the hold of the magic once a person succumbed to the awful power.

Watanuki looked at Subaru, his eyes suddenly narrow, though his smile was still present. "I will end this dream, Subaru. I will stop this chaos."

A whirlwind picked up around him and Shizuka. Their shapes faded away until all that remained was the view of the forest that had been behind them.


	9. Chapter 9

There was a lot of noise and commotion outside of the general's office door. Subaru squirmed restlessly in his chair as he awaited questioning. The look that was being cast on him by General Monou was enough to make any steady man lose his composure.

Monou lit a cigarette and sucked in a lungful of smoke. Subaru's eyes were trained on him as the tall man whipped a chair around and sat in it backwards, his dark red eyes still looking at the ensign. He rested his arms across the back of the chair and leaned forward. "So," he started.

Subaru clutched the sides of his seat as Monou took another drag from his cigarette.

"If the report I read is to be believed, you came back from the forest after engaging yourself in the last fight, while still injured..."

Subaru's cheeks colored a little but at least he didn't wince.

"With a girl who apparently had been a witch, but now has no memory of it. You also claim to have seen the late Captain Doumeki."

"Yes, General."

Monou blew smoke from his lips and it curled into the air like weightless water. "Please, Subaru, just Fuuma right now."

Uh... "Yes, Fuuma."

The general nodded. "You mind telling me how the _hell_ this happened?"

"I... I'm not sure. While I was fighting I saw another hunter get dragged into the forest by spirits. I went to follow him and retrieve him but I couldn't find him. That was when the witch – girl, sorry – attacked. She asked for my name and started to drain my energy from me. That was when she was shot in the side with an arrow."

"An arrow," Fuuma repeated.

Subaru nodded. "Doumeki's arrow."

Fuuma lifted an eyebrow. "He just appeared?"

"He wasn't alone. That... _thing_ that has him was with him. He calls himself Watanuki Kimihiro." Subaru did his best to keep the anger from his voice, but it was a difficult battle. "I don't know what that man is."

Fuuma nodded gravely. "No one knows. He's not a witch or spirit of any kind, that much is certain, and from what we can gather there are more of his kind."

Subaru deflated a little at being reminded of that. He didn't know how they would stop a creature like Watanuki alone, but with more like him it would be impossible. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to stop a force of nature, like making the wind stop blowing or the sun stop rising. It simply wasn't done.

"What happened then?" Fuuma pressed.

"That man told Doumeki to move his aim at something that I couldn't see, but they both could. When Doumeki's arrow hit.. well, whatever it was, I could see a brief flash of a spirit with a large red eye before it was destroyed. Watanuki said that spirit had possessed the girl and turned her into a witch. He said there are more of them, and that if they all die the witches will be released." Fuuma's eyes bored into him in an unsettling way. Subaru did his best to hold the gaze and assure the other man of his honesty. "Watanuki also said something... strange."

"Yes?"

Subaru paused. He didn't quite know what he'd been told meant. "He said he would 'put an end to this dream.' That he would stop the chaos."

Fuuma pulled the cigarette from his lips, his mouth slightly ajar. "He plans to put an end to the witches and corrupted magic?"

The ensign shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose, though I don't really know how or why."

"What about Doumeki? What did he say?"

The very memory of it nearly made him choke up. "He..." Subaru ground his teeth together. "He doesn't remember anything. He does whatever that man tells him to."

General Monou lowered his arms and sat up straight. "I see."

Grave news indeed. Watanuki was a wild card. He did as he pleased, and at the moment it apparently pleased him to end the decades long battle between the witches and the hunters. Who he took for his own along the way didn't seem to matter. Kunogi Himawari was missing, Doumeki Kino and Yakani had been easily snatched up by Watanuki's sister, and Doumeki Shizuka himself had walked up to that man under his own power and willfully handed himself over. It was downright mystifying. Why was it all happening now? If these beings were as old as they claimed to be, why hadn't they stopped the witches before?

It was baffling.

Monou stood up and put his chair back in front of the cluttered desk. "That will be all, Ensign. You may return to your bunk for now. Get some rest."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Subaru stood up and left the small office quickly.

It was unfortunate that he had to pass by the infirmary on his way to his bunk due to the painful reminder of what he saw inside the populated room.

Commander Sakurazuka had been injured that night. He was till in critical condition, so he hadn't even regained consciousness. Subaru could only stare for a moment at the man's sleeping face before he had to look away. The image of Seiichiro being blind in his right eye felt like a knife stab in his gut.

Subaru fell into his bunk with a shuddering breath and ended up in a dreamless sleep.

. . . . . . . . . . .

It was very early morning. Pink dawn clouds were like polka-dots in the pale blue sky. Trouble seemed to avoid the youngest of the morning hours, so those few souls brave enough to venture out for food and supplies could be found at that time poking through the wares of the opened stalls.

Ensign Sumeragi picked his way carefully around the few people that were out as he headed towards a fruit stand. He wanted to buy some apples for himself since they were in season. It felt like the only highlight he would have for the whole week.

Every night their village was under siege. Every morning the infirmary was filled with more wounded. They wouldn't be able to continue at such a pace for many more days.

The fruit stand had barely anything on display, but he wasn't surprised. The vendor likely hadn't been able to leave the village walls and harvest more. The price would be at a premium. Subaru fished some coins from his pocket and handed them to the tired man that was selling the small red apples he wanted.

When he went to pick up a rather nice looking one Subaru had to pause as a small child's hand reached for the same apple. He stifled his shock and investigated the tiny person next to him. "Child, where are your parents? You should be inside right now."

The girl had long blond hair down to her waist. Big blue eyes looked up at him from a smooth countenance. "I am fine, Uncle."

_Uncle?_ _Che._ Now he felt old. "Really now," he leaned down a little to better see her face. "It is dangerous outside, especially for children. Please go home where you're safe."

The girl smiled at him. The expression looked strangely... too old for her face. "You mustn't be too harsh on my brother. He really does mean well."

He blinked in confusion. "Who...?"

"Kimihiro."

Subaru felt rather proud of himself when he didn't suddenly start screaming. He managed to stay relatively calm on the outside, even if his heart suddenly started pounding so hard he thought it might leap right out of his throat. "Who are you?" He hissed angrily.

The girl merely continued to smile at him in seemingly benign ignorance of his immediate frustration. "My name is Kohane. Kimihiro is my brother."

Subaru knelt down to be at her level. It didn't seem as though she wanted to run away any time soon. "Your brother is a _monster!_" He growled lowly. There were too few people out as it was, he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention. "Doumeki remembers _nothing_ of us!"

Kohane grabbed the apple she'd reached for earlier and held it delicately in her hands. Her finger nails were perfect and painted pink. "It was necessary. Your captain had been born for my brother, after all. In order to live forever with him, Kimihiro had to take Shizuka to the source of his powers, which is a dimension all unto itself. If pain of any kind enters such a dimension, it can easily warp the power into something terrible. It would have destroyed Kimihiro if he had not taken those memories away."

Subaru's jaw hung open at the juicy bit of detail he'd just been told. It was no wonder the Travelers were so powerful. They had a whole _dimension_ to house their powers! "But Doumeki can no longer think for himself," he replied, his voice strained. "He's lost who he is!"

The little girl closed her eyes as her smile grew. "And that is where you must forgive my brother. He does not do it on purpose – no Traveler does. You see, the older we get, the more our magic surrounds us. Kimihiro only wants Shizuka to be happy. His magic fills Shizuka's body, and the effect of that is complete peace. Shizuka's only focus is Kimihiro because of this. He can still think, and has other desires."

"You lie!"

"Why do you suppose that my brother wants to destroy the source of your troubles here?" Kohane rubbed her fingers across the delicate red skin of the fruit in her hands. "He's only fulfilling Shizuka's wish to protect everyone."

"Even if Doumeki doesn't remember us? Does he still want us saved?"

"Whether he remembers now or not does not matter. At one point in time he had wished it, and now Kimihiro will make it happen. It is the very reason why he saved you the other night."

"And the teasing?"

Kohane tilted her head to the side slightly. "He's vain sometimes. Shizuka certainly enjoys the attention."

The ensign's face colored red. He opened his mouth to retort when a long, slender hand settled on Kohane's shoulder. The girl looked up at the person that came up behind her. "Kazahaya," she greeted.

The very pretty blond man drew her closer. "Little feather, you know it's dangerous for you in this world. Your family would be very upset to learn you were here."

Subaru quickly stood up to his full height. He would recognize an aura like this anywhere now. _It's another one!_

"You won't tell them, will you?" Her grin stated that she didn't seem to care if he did or not.

"Only if you stay out of trouble next time! Your brother and I have a lot to take care of here. Please go home for now. I'm sure Kimihiro will bring you here later, once the corruption has been cleansed."

"Another one!" Subaru voiced out loud.

The man, Kazahaya, moved his gaze towards the ensign. "Ah, Ensign Subaru. Kimihiro was right, you really are cute."

This time when his cheeks colored with a blush, it was with indignation. "You're just like him!"

Kazahaya smiled. "Perhaps." He backed up a pace and tugged Kohane with him. "Come, child. It's time to leave."

"All right, Uncle."

"Che! And don't call me uncle! I'm only half of your brother's age, after all."

"You're still five hundred years older than me."

When the hunter attempted to follow them, they slipped behind view of a different stand, then were gone without even a whisper.

. . . . . . . . .

The temple grounds were in the midst of a perfect summer sunset. Subaru did not know where he was, or how he came to be here. It felt surreal, even though everything was in painfully sharp focus.

"It's a dream, Subaru."

He turned around and saw Watanuki himself as he reclined on a low sofa on the porch, Doumeki asleep in his arms.

"Captain!"

Watanuki ran his fingers through the ex hunter's short dark hair. "He can't hear you. I told you, this is merely a dream."

"Why have you brought me here?"

Watanuki chuckled and pressed his face against one of Doumeki's strong shoulders. "So angry, Subaru. It's like watching a kitten hiss." His eyes closed in mirth. "It's cute."

"Stop calling me that!" He took a few steps closer to the temple building's veranda.

Watanuki held Doumeki like a delicate china doll, head held in one hand, body against the Traveler, while the other hand moved up and down his exposed skin slowly and with meaning. "You miss him, don't you?" Sometimes watching such displays Subaru felt like he was watching a train wreck. "Unrequited infatuation can be physically painful, can't it?"

"You're sick."

Watanuki laughed.

"Why? Why have you done it this way? Why Doumeki? He was the best of us!" Subaru balled his hands into fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"It's a small sacrifice, isn't it? One glorious, handsome, magnificent hunter, in exchange for the end of your thousand-years long battle? Besides, it isn't as if I _chose_ Shizuka. It was the fates that created him for me. He is my Intended."

"Is this a joke? Or is it this way with all of you? You steal someone away because a fate somewhere deemed you were supposed to?"

Watanuki's eyes narrowed. "Do no take our bondings lightly, boy. You do not know the agony of an eternity alone. You do _not_ know the physical pain of your heart, watching time and again as your lovers grow old and die. I hardly stole my Shizuka. As you saw yourself, he came to me willingly. To fight the red string of fate that bound us together would have killed him." Kimihiro slid a hand up Shizuka's leg and under the fabric of his kimono – a much more elaborate one than the simple yukata Subaru remembered seeing him in last time.

"Why now?" He averted his eyes from the excessive fondling.

"We Travelers alone could not defeat these witches without something more powerful to fight the abomination spirits with. Shizuka's strength has bloomed under my applied seal. His desire to end the terror of your witches, coupled with his power and my desire to please him is enough to finally end it all."

Subaru deflated, his shoulders slumped and his head hung in defeat. "It's not fair."

Kimihiro smiled then. "When is a hunter's life ever fair?"

. . . . . . . .

_Author's Note:_

_As one review pointed out, Watanuki is kind of evil and the Intended partners are a bit mindless. Well, I have a dirty, dirty secret to reveal. _

_Yes, it's all true. The point of it all was to have both sides of the fight, the hunters and Travelers, seem gray and murky. Nothing in life is ever really that black and white anyway. Watanuki has certainly gone a bit crazy as he's gotten older. Is it really better for Doumeki to be this way now, to lose himself even though the future of his old world will be safe? Is Watanuki's teasing harmless or does he do it because he spites Subaru's infatuation for Doumeki? Well, I'm not telling, the point is to draw your own conclusions. I kept imagining the shock that Subaru would go through at seeing Doumeki as he is now. I thought the tension was just too delicious to abandon. _

_Please offer any constructive criticism you'd like, or things that you'd like to see yourself. The story will be drawing to a close very, very soon._


	10. Chapter 10

It was noon, but the black clouds in the sky rendered it impossible to distinguish at first glance if it was really day or night. A summer thunderstorm had rolled in and blanketed the area in torrential rain. Thunder rocked the foundations of the village buildings. More often than not the constant lightning was the only light strong enough to pierce the gloom.

It was a storm the likes of which no one had ever seen. Newly formed rivers and streams of water snaked around the village walls and the trees in the forest. Half of the homes had already started to flood.

Roiling anxiety killed any appetite Subaru may have had – should have had in fact. He'd not had a bite to eat all day but the bubbling, stinging sensation in his stomach caused every morsel of food to look repulsive.

Everything felt like it was coming to an end, roaring and raging and so utterly final.

The cup of tea rattled mournfully against the plate it rested on as Subaru stumbled into the infirmary. He did not know why he felt so responsible for all of the recent troubles. Perhaps if he had said something sooner to the council that first night he'd found Doumeki collapsed in the empty alley his capture could have been prevented. Perhaps if he'd tried to do more for his late captain, Doumeki would have been able to fight more, and their tiny village with its rather poor inhabitants wouldn't be dying every day...

The words of Watanuki and that little girl – _although she's not _really_ little, is she? She's likely older than the tallest tree in the forest – _chased each other around in his head. Doumeki went willingly... if he had fought he would have died... Watanuki would stop the chaos...

He shook his head to force the memories away for a little while. He didn't trust the Travelers, not one bit, so he didn't know how much of what they told him he should allow himself to believe.

But if they did have any motive to lie to him, what other conclusions were there to draw? What else could they possibly gain from his world?

The nurses on duty shuffled around him as he made his way to his commander's cot. It was his guilt that had brought him do such a thing. Whether he was supposed to feel guilty or not did not matter, it didn't make the pain in his gut change at all.

Seiichiro blinked his one eye open when he heard someone approach his bedside. Subaru sat in the chair next to the cot and held the tray out. "I brought tea."

"Tea," Sakurazuka whispered.

Subaru was still afraid of what his commander could do to him, so he was not inclined to offer help as Sakurazuka pushed his pillows up to better sit upright. Once the man was marginally sitting up, Subaru offered the cup of steaming jasmine tea to him. "Hungry?" He asked.

Sakurazuka looked at him, his one half-lidded eye betraying exhaustion through suspicion. "Subaru, you're not usually so helpful to me. Where's the cute nurses?"

Subaru's cheeks flushed. He really disliked how this man could be so forward. "They're too busy with the other wounded. I offered to help."

"Of course," Seiichiro agreed mildly and sipped his tea.

The dishes on the ensign's tray rattled and clanged together as the walls around them shook with the thunder. It sounded like the storm was getting worse outside.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Sakurazuka asked over his cup.

"About two days now." Subaru handed him a plate of buttered rolls.

"Hn." Seiichiro bit into the roll and closed his eye. The other eye – his right one – felt heavy in his head. He felt like he had a hand pressing against the spot, blinding half of his normal vision and pushing a nagging ache up into his forehead. He wondered how long he would be that way.

The sound of the warning bells echoed hollowly in the infirmary. Subaru jerked up to stand and didn't even pay attention to the tray that hurtled to the floor. "No, no, it's still daylight!" He dashed towards the door.

"Subaru!" Sakurazuka wrestled himself from the cot and yelled after the ensign.

Someone burst in through the door at the other end of the room with terrible news. "The walls! The walls are crumbling!" The man's raincoat was dripping wet, as if it had been pushed around in a full bathtub before being worn.

"What?" One of the nurses cried and covered her mouth with her hands.

"How?" Someone else asked.

Sakurazuka did not wait for any more information. He stood up, stumbled back down, got up again with a grunt of pain and headed to his quarters for his gear.

Of course, Subaru was a stupid boy sometimes, so did he even have time?

. . . . . . . . .

Subaru held his glass lamp high above his head as he tried to see the commotion out in the village. The black clouds in the sky blocked nearly any sunlight from leaking through. The rain made everything look fuzzy and far away. The few other lamps in the village bobbed and swayed in the wind like dying stars in a dead galaxy.

The sounds of the wood walls crumbling was loud. Behind the wall a wave of muddy waters poured over the broken bits of wood and debris into the village proper.

And there, right above his head, Subaru spotted the tell-tale signs of vengeful spirits coalescing overhead. Subaru drew his sword and prepared himself as the storm clouds swirled and opened up like mouths that vomited the supernatural upon them.

There were other hunters all around him but even still they were too few. The hunter's council had been trying to send more reinforcements for them, but of the extra fifty they'd accepted so far already thirty were dead. No more had been able to make it to them through the awful weather.

Well, he wasn't going down without a fight. The ensign bit down quickly on his thumb and forced out a bit of blood. He drew a line down the blade of his sword with his wounded thumb and watched with satisfaction as arcane symbols immediately lit up with power.

When the first wave reached him he was able to slice through most of the spirits and acquired only a few scratches. He did his best to ignore the screaming of the newly wounded as they endured wave after wave of spirits.

Subaru felt a chill at his back that had nothing to do with the rain soaking him to the bone. He had just enough time to turn around and have his sight filled with nothing but a large, throbbing red eye hovering in a cloud of purple gassy-smoke. He knew without any doubt it was one of the spirits that actually possessed people into becoming witches. Could he fight it? Why did his knees suddenly lock up and his throat and chest feel like it was stuck in a block of ice?

"Get down, idiot!"

The spirit lunged but just as the oily tendrils of smoke were about to reach him Subaru found himself flat on his back and another person covering him.

"C-Commander?"

Seiichiro was still wearing the thin white garments the infirmary had put him in, though he did have a sword in hand. His one eye was narrowed and... worried? The ensign wiggled uncomfortably as sand and mud wormed its way into his armor as the rain continued to fall.

"Hold still!" The officer barked. He appeared to be trying to make a seal in the air with his free hand. Subaru recognized it as a shield defense, and a highly advanced one at that. Unfortunately for his commanding officer, Sakurazuka didn't have time to finish it as the spirit that had been about to attack Subaru started to bore down on his back. Sakurazuka gasped in pain. His blood sprayed up in a red shower into the dark air.

"No!" Subaru pushed at the other man's shoulders to move him away from the onslaught.

"I said ho-hold _still!_" Sakurazuka gritted his teeth against the pain and pushed back, acting as a shield for the person beneath him.

"Idiot," Subaru choked back.

Sakurazuka went still after a flash of gold flew over him and the spirit vanished in a puff of air. His body agitated with pain but the feeling of teeth scraping down his skin was finally gone.

"Stay down," someone above them commanded. Subaru gasped in shock as Doumeki strode into view while he fired another projectile. As soon as the spastic energy of his gold energy arrow was released there were more people – people that Subaru had never seen before and a couple that he _did_ recognize – dart past them like back-up cavalry.

There were Travelers, a dozen of them perhaps, and their Intendeds all fighting the raging storm around them. Watching them fight was nothing short of breathtaking. The Travelers themselves were far easier to spot than anyone else. While some of them looked dressed to fight, others still refused to wear anything other than their favored kimonos. The spaces around them lit up like fireworks as their magic pushed back the tidal wave of spirits. Some moved too quickly for human eyes to follow.

The rain soaked ground became a patchwork of shining and mismatched patterns of ancient seals and symbols. The glyphs throbbed and pulsed like veins pumping blood, like lightning arcing across the sky.

The others, their partners, were all powerful in their own right. Some of them summoned enough fire to burn up a lake. The rain fizzled and hissed as it came in contact with the raging infernos. Some could summon ice, others lighting, and some, like Doumeki, used a unique energy of their own. It seemed like all of them were in some way protecting those that had already fallen.

"Touya, Rikuo!" Doumeki yelled out. Two black haired men made their way to him from close by. Doumeki motioned for them to follow as he rushed to the village's center.

Sakurazuka had yet to get off of Subaru. The ensign really wanted to get up from the ground. While he couldn't get any wetter, his pants seemed to keep on accumulating more and more dirt.

"Where's Kimihiro?" Someone next to them yelled through the wind. Subaru did not recognize the man.

"He's on his way! Hurry, Yukito! We have to form the circle!"

The last one the ensign _did_ recognize as Kazahaya, the one that had come for Watanuki's younger sister.

The ageless beings did seem to have some sort of plan in motion. Subaru and Seiichiro watched as they started shouting instructions to each other and all line up in a large circle. Once it was complete, they all moved one hand towards the center of their circle, then the earth beneath them came alive.

A massive circular seal lit up on the ground and cast an eerie shine upon them. Blue and silver light danced and waved around them like a living thing.

Once, when he had been very young, Subaru had seen a meteor fall from the sky. He hadn't understood what he was staring at in the beginning. It had merely appeared to be a large star in the sky that twinkled and glistened more than usual. Eventually the size continued to grow until a line of fire could be seen behind it.

Subaru had been too far away from the place of impact so he didn't really know of the kind of destruction it could leave behind, but he clearly remembered the sight of the sky torn in two by an object that was hurdling through it. The sight of a blue streak of light coming for them rather reminded him of the fright and exhilaration he felt as a child when he watched the rock fall from the sky.

Watanuki landed in the center of the seal the others had created with all the noise of the tectonic plates of the world colliding. Subaru's ears rang in the seconds following his landing.

The Traveler stood upright from his landed and extended one hand extended towards the sky, a ball of fiery white energy pulsating in his grip. He was staring up at the black storm above him, his eyes sharp and deep, deep blue.

The clouds above him started to grow thicker, larger and swirl around like a vortex. "What is he doing?" The ensign wondered out loud.

"He's summoning the spirits together," Sakurazuka remarked.

"How...?" Subaru's eyes darted around as much as they could. He could see a few of the remaining entities get sucked up into the angry vortex above Watanuki, adding to its already enormous size.

Doumeki broke through the circle to join his lover, and as he did the Intendeds gathered around the outside of the glowing seal and dug their swords into the ground. The light the weapons created became so bright it hurt to look upon it.

Doumeki drew his arm back and formed another arrow in his bow. He aimed up but did not fire yet. What was he waiting for?

"_Come!_" They heard Watanuki shout. "_Come for me! Come and eat me as you've always wanted to!_"

"He's acting as _bait,_" Sakurazuka realized.

The lines of power that spiraled out along the ground from the Travelers and from the swords pierced into the earth fed up through the late captain's feet, across his back, along his arms and into his weapon.

"What are they waiting for?" Subaru asked.

The clouds heaved and a giant, bulging yellow eye with a red iris emerged from the clouds and stared wide and hungry at Watanuki's relatively tiny form below. With one heartbeat for a pause it hurtled itself downward. "_NOW, SHIZUKA!"_ They heard Watanuki scream.

Doumeki released his arrow, and the seal beneath them all exploded in a blinding glory.

Subaru thought his heart might leap right out of his chest. The hair on his body stood on end and energy filled every crevice of space around them. He closed his eyes and held his breath. If reality itself could have a seizure he was quite sure it just did.

When the light receded he realized the rain had stopped. The sky was no longer black and unseeing, it was now merely gray and steely.

Finally Sakurazuka pushed himself up and off the smaller person beneath him. Subaru used the opportunity to sit upright. His armor squelched with mud and water as he moved. He looked back to the gathered Travelers with a hungry interest.

Watanuki had collapsed into Doumeki's arms. Doumeki himself was on his knees and leaning over the body he held, visibly panting. Kimihiro was covered in blood. "What happened?" Subaru gaped.

Sakurazuka shook his head but did not voice a guess.

Kimihiro's fellow Travelers slowly walked towards him and Doumeki. Multiple hands helped Doumeki stand up as he continued to hold the unconscious man in his arms. One of them whispered something into Doumeki's ear. Subaru and Seiichiro were too far away to hear it, but Doumeki merely nodded.

Without even a goodbye, someone summoned their magic and transported all of the Intendeds and Travelers away.

The village was as silent as the dead. A few people on the ground started to gingerly pick themselves up.

"That's it?" Subaru asked. "That's the end of it?"

"It would appear so." Seiichiro looked at him, his one eye crinkled in a half smile, then swiftly passed out.

. . . . . . . . . .

Kimihiro awoke to the pleasant feeling of a hand cradling his head and fingers digging through his hair. When he opened his eyes he was greeted with the sight of a broad, muscular chest.

"You're awake," Shizuka said. His chest rumbled in a pleasing way as he spoke.

"Hmm," Kimihiro agreed. His spare hand found itself running up along the skin that covered that irresistible bust of its own accord.

"Thank goodness," the other man continued. The hand that had been buried in Kimihiro's hair moved to pull his shoulders a little closer. "You've been asleep for days."

"Have I?" He asked. He sat up a little and leaned over for a kiss that was eagerly returned.

"You worried me," Shizuka continued.

"There was nothing to worry over." Kimihiro lay back down to nibble at the man's expose earlobe. "We are immortal. I am the only one capable of taking my own life."

Shizuka pushed him down fully on the bed and looked at him pointedly. His body fully covered Kimihiro's and pressed him into the mattress. "Still... don't do that again." One of his large hands once again found purchase in Kimihiro's fiber-thin hair. "I can't stand the sight of you hurt. You should never bleed, not even for me."

Kimihiro chuckled and moved his legs aside to better encompass Shizuka's hips bearing down against his groin. "My love, you are the only one I would ever bleed for." His hands reached up and pulled the other down for a heated kiss. "But I promise, I won't do that again."

"Good," Shizuka breathed deeply, then contented himself with applying a love bite to the left side of Kimihiro's pale neck.

"Who brought us home?" Kimihiro asked as he pulled aside Shizuka's troublesome clothing.

The lips against his neck paused as he searched his memory for the name. "Kakei... and Saiga. They transported us home, but the others helped as well."

"Ah!" Kimihiro inhaled as two digits slipped inside of his entrance. "Very well." He sat up and allowed himself to drown against those delicious lips.

"I love you," Shizuka said into the kiss.

"I know," Kimihiro whispered back. He laughed, small and light and airy. "I know."


	11. Chapter 11

As the first few days after the final battle passed people started to trickle back into villages they had once lived in. Many of them were thin from a lack of food, tired, older looking, and had no memory of anything that had happened to them after they'd gone missing.

It seemed that Watanuki's statement had been true after all. Once the spirits that possessed people had been destroyed the witches they had created were released and the terror was finally over.

Subaru was nervous with excited anticipation as he waited outside of the council's chamber doors. Along with General Shiro, General Monou and Commander Sakurazuka, as a junior officer he was the closest person involved with the Travelers so the council had asked for him by name to be a part of the briefing that was to be held. He didn't think they could have had better news to offer even if the gods themselves had come down and offered to abolish all diseases.

"Quit twitching," Sakurazuka growled next to him. "It's annoying."

"S-Sorry Commander," he flushed, but still couldn't really help himself from bouncing from foot to foot. The four of them were decked out in their finest livery. Their weapons had been polished and shined and their leathers oiled and cleaned. Subaru thought he'd never looked better.

Fuuma and Kamui had been very quiet up till that point. Subaru wondered what they were thinking.

The doors finally opened and an aid ushered the four of them in. No one had really seen the Hunter's Council outside of staff and aids since its inception. It was one of the most secretive organizations in existence. Subaru could scarcely believe he was about to see them now, and he was only an ensign!

The room they walked into was surprisingly small. It was in the shape of a rotunda but the ceiling did not tower nearly as high as a standard rotunda would for a place of worship. It was trimmed in rich dark woods and the floor was dark black marble. It gave a rather somber mood to the small space.

The table the council members sat up at was in the shape of a crescent that followed the walls of the room. The raised seats and high, ornately designed table proved an imposing sight for those that stood in front of it.

Subaru only knew the name of one person on the council and really, how could he not? The man was Fuuma's father, after all.

Once they entered and were in the room fully the three men next to him knelt down to their knees and Subaru followed suit. The doors closed behind them and someone spoke.

"General Monou, General Shiro, Commander Sakurazuka, and Ensign Sumeragi."

The voice was deep, though the ensign was loathe to look up at the person to investigate who it was before the others lifted their heads first.

"You may rise."

They did so. Subaru chanced a glance up at the Hunter's Council and took note of the person that had spoken. He was a rather ugly man – his beard was large and parted down the center. He wore a monocle lens and rather elaborate clothes.

"Councilman Fei Wong," Monou greeted. "You asked to see us."

"Indeed. We've been hearing strange news lately from all over the country. Perhaps you can settle some of these wild rumors we've heard?"

"I'm not sure how wild the rumors have become," Fuuma began, "but most of what you've heard is likely true. The Witches' Collective has been disbanded and their threat is neutralized. Beings that refer to themselves as 'Travelers' were the ones to abolish the source of the collective's power. Captain Doumeki Shizuka _was_ seduced by one of these Travelers, and was also directly responsible for defending our village at the final battle. He has not been seen since that day, nor have his parents and his fiance that were abducted by these Travelers prior."

Sakurazuka quietly snorted. Subaru felt his chest tighten with the painful memory, but at least the ache was starting to reduce. They lost the best of them, but at least everyone left would be safe.

The rest of the council members started murmuring to each other. They seemed restless as they moved their heads to talk to the person on their left, then the person on their right, then back again. The murmuring grew louder still.

"This is impossible!" Someone stood up and declared.

Fei Wong motioned a hand and the man sat back down. Subaru winced internally as he looked at the strangely stretched earlobes of the graying old councilman that dangled nearly down to his shoulders. It was _gross._

"What's to become of the Hunter's Council?" Someone else asked. A man stood up and looked at Fei Wong. He had a very gentle looking face. "And the rest of the order?"

"I agree with Mr. Rondart," someone else confirmed. "This is not acceptable."

"W-What?" Subaru's mouth fell agape.

Fei Wong nodded to himself. "Fuuma," he looked at the general. "How many others have witnessed the events that occurred in your village?"

Fuuma's eyes narrowed. "Just the active hunters on duty, and any citizen that was brave or stupid enough to go outside."

Fei Wong sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped, then. The witnesses will have to be silenced. Guards-"

Suddenly arms were on them and holding them down. Subaru chocked up with shock and Sakurazuka spluttered angrily. "_Fuckers!"_ The commander yelled. "What the hell is the matter with all of you?"

"Now wait a moment," one of the other, so far silent, councilmen stood up. "Surely my son wouldn't betray the order."

"Why would you do this?" Subaru cried.

Fei Wong laughed. "And just what are a bunch of trained killers supposed to do now that there's no need for them? You suppose we can tell them to run off and become farmers? You think we could let them join the Imperial Army? Fool!" He slammed a hand on the table. "Our forces are a crucial part of the political balance in this country. Have you any idea of the ramifications of allowing the Emperor to hold all of the power?"

Subaru felt his brain become derailed. He didn't think the _hunters_ were supposed to be part of politics at all... That's not what they were supposed to do...

"_Father!_" Fuuma growled. "You can't-!"

"Kill them," Fei Wong pointed at the four restrained hunters.

"No!" Councilman Monou yelled out, but he was restrained by his peers.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. Subaru closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Things were supposed to get _better_ after this, not worse! Not for the first time Subaru childishly wished Doumeki was there. The unflappable man always seemed to have an answer for terrible situations. Though, even _Doumeki_ probably couldn't have resolved this disaster.

"_Fei Wong,_ this isn't very nice of you!" Subaru felt a person suddenly latch onto his back and a hand slither lightly around his neck. He opened his eyes in shock and saw the blade that was frozen only inches from his throat. "What has cute Subaru ever done to you?"

The air was sucked involuntarily from the ensign's lungs. Watanuki Kimihiro was touching him. Watanuki Kimihiro was _holding_ him, and protecting him from the steel death that was hovering just out of reach of his skin. "How-?"

"Who are you?" Fei Wong demanded. "How did you get in here?"

Watanuki laughed and walked around to stand in front of the restrained hunters. Doumeki walked up next to Watanuki, a bow in hand. Subaru took a moment to reflect on the irony of the fact that this time it was his own people that had restrained him.

Watanuki lifted his hand, a paper ward held delicately between his fingers. He held the item up to his lips briefly and his eyes flashed. "Seal the door," he spoke, then held the ward up into the air. He released his hand and the paper started to spin rapidly, then split down the middle a half a dozen times before each newly made piece shot off towards the doors situated around the room.

Some of the councilmen tried to run to the exits and escape but all of them were too late. Watanuki laughed delightedly at the spectacle they made of themselves. "I, you pitiful man, and Watanuki Kimihiro." The Traveler turned his head and revealed his profile to the hunters that were behind him, his blue eyes fixed on Doumeki. The perpetual grin from his face was suddenly gone. Subaru felt his stomach drop to the bottom of his knees at the suddenly serious countenance. It was strangely more disturbing than any other emotion he'd ever seen on that delicate face. "Shizuka, kill them."

Doumeki drew the string of his bow back, his stance rigid and powerful, and started firing.

It was like watching someone shoot fish in a small bucket. There was no sport, and no dignity in the way these men died. Doumeki was ruthless and quiet as he moved his aim around the room as the Hunter's Council scrambled. Any magic that any of them attempted to use was swiftly thwarted by Watanuki. For a frail looking creature he had amazingly quick reflexes.

At last, there were three men left alive. One of them was Fuuma's father. Watanuki touched Doumeki's shoulder which caused the ex hunter to immediately lower his weapon. The Traveler then carefully picked his feet up as he walked over the bodies towards Councilman Monou. The man's hands had been tied behind his back by his peers. Watanuki grabbed his chin and held his gaze unblinking. "Kyogo Monou." His lips thinned in a tiny frown. "Repent. You were too quiet in your time here. Help your kind now or I will take your heart out of your chest myself."

Fuuma's father nodded as a look of intense relief washed across his face.

Watanuki looked across the room to a different man. His features softened a little. "Aoki, the same advice for you."

The brown haired man nodded. His clothing was splashed in blood from Fei Wong, who had gotten an arrow to the artery in his neck right next to him. The man looked pale and shaken.

Watanuki headed to the last councilman, who at the moment was furiously struggling with one of the doors. "Kyle Rondart," he greeted, but the threat in his voice could not be mistaken.

"Stay back!" The gentle faced man from before cried out. He threw a stream of fire towards the person advancing on him. The flames came to Watanuki but merely curled around him like a long lost friend.

"You are an awful man, Kyle."

The councilman's face twisted suddenly into an ugly visage.

"Truly, a terror in this world. How many children have you ruined?"

"I'll kill you!" Councilman Rondart spat. He cried out when one of Doumeki's arrows flew across the room to land in his shoulder and pin him to the wall.

Watanuki licked his lips and grinned. "You are a coward, Kyle Rondart. A _coward!_" The space around the door was suddenly consumed in a cloud of solid pitch black. The rest of the people in the room heard a terrifying scream of insanity, one of Kimihiro's giddy laughs, then silence.

Watanuki walked leisurely back to the center of the council room. He looked at the four hunters with a small, satisfied smirk as Doumeki came up behind him and wrapped his arms around the Traveler's waist. "Seiichiro, _do_ be nice to Subaru. My Shizuka still wishes for his safety, so if you do decide to harm him, I won't be able to help but do to you what I've just done to poor Mr. Rondart."

"Bastard," Sakurazuka hissed.

Watanuki chuckled. "Have fun, kids!" He waved at them as the air around him and Doumeki kicked up and swept them away.

. . . . . . . . .

_Epilogue_

Subaru breathed deeply. The spring air was filled with blooming sakura blossoms, so it was thick and sweet to breathe in. He sighed a little and continued on his walk around the lakeside.

It had been nearly forty years since the Hunter's Council had been abolished. He was old and had been mostly retired for quite a while now. Subaru was one of the last remaining hunter-trained individuals in the country. He'd been young enough that he had not been exposed to nearly enough of the witches' corrupted magic that his heart was trying to fail him early in life. He was just finally starting to feel terrible twinges in his chest but he was nearly in his sixties now so he was grateful that he'd lived as long as he had already.

The sun was just getting ready to head into sunset, so the sky above had just started to alight with orange and yellow amidst the light blue from above.

No one had ever seen Doumeki Shizuka or any of the Travelers since the massacre of the Hunter's Council. Subaru found his mind wandering and wondered how his old captain was doing. Was he still being used? Did Watanuki toss him aside yet? Was he happy, wherever he was?

He must have jinxed himself thinking of such things, for he certainly never expected to see what he did as he walked around a tree. He thought his heart might suddenly stop then and there.

Watanuki and Doumeki were lying down on a reclining chair, apparently asleep. Watanuki was curled up in Doumeki's embrace and his hands were resting on the arms that held him.

Doumeki hadn't aged a day. He still looked like a nineteen year old man that was barely into his twenties. "Captain!" He found himself spluttering out loud. By the heavens, even after so many years he still used that title.

The Traveler's ocean blue eyes blinked open and looked at him. The man smiled and pushed himself a little closer into Doumeki's embrace. "Subaru," he said softly. "It's been a while."

Subaru stood dumbstruck before them. "What are you doing out here?"

Watanuki yawned like a cat. "Enjoying the sunset. It's lovely, isn't it?

Subaru chose to ignore the man. "Doumeki... please say something..."

The ex hunter opened his eyes and looked at Subaru briefly, then back to Watanuki. "Do we know this person, Kimihiro?"

The emotional pain felt so very physical, and it was like it was fresh and new all over again. "Doumeki," Subaru pleaded. "After all you did for us, you still don't remember me?"

Watanuki chuckled and danced his hand up Doumeki's chest. "Yes, love. A very short lifetime ago, we knew this person."

"Hm." Doumeki closed his eyes as though it was the end of it. He looked ready to go back to sleep.

"Don't you care about who you used to be?" Subaru exploded. It was a question that had burned in him for years. "People loved you! They cared for you! And you left!"

"Che," Watanuki huffed. He didn't feel any further reminder was needed of what he'd done for this stupid world.

Doumeki buried a hand in Watanuki's hair. "I remember... vague emotions," he began. "Before Kimihiro, I remember only small impressions of fear, and anger... frustration, and loneliness." A kiss was pressed to Watanuki's forehead. "So much loneliness. When I am with Kimihiro I am at peace." He moved his bright gold eyes – _since when were they so golden bright and not tawny brass like his memories told him?_- to look back at Subaru. "I do not think I want to remember that pain. There is nothing to be gained from it. There are some things in this world that a person is better off not knowing."

"Doumeki..."

The Intended pulled the Traveler further up and somehow closer still. "I love him."

Watanuki laughed lightly. "Move on, Subaru. You've only a few more months to live. Make the most of it."

He knew, deep down, that there was nothing else to be done. Numb and filled again with a stinging grief, Subaru continued to move along down the route his walk was going to take him previously. Tears leaked down his cheeks though he made no noise and he was powerless to stop the flow. When he looked back all he could in the small distance he'd put between him and the man he once knew was Watanuki Kimihiro's endless blue eyes smiling at him.

_Author's Note:_

_Yes! This is the last chapter. I 'might' post an omake of when Watanuki goes back to see Doumeki's father as he's dying like Sakura promised, but at the moment the story, I believe, is enough to stand on its own without further necessary additions. _

_Please review if you liked this and would like to see anything similar (or different!) in the near future._


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